BOBBING FOR EELS 



line should break so would the fisherman's 

 neck. 



They prate much to me about the stance 

 and the swing, the addressing and the fol- 

 lowing through in driving a ball at golf. 

 The words are used glibly, but I doubt if 

 many know their real significance. What- 

 ever that is it all applies, and more, to the 

 proper bobbing of an eel. It is the sum- 

 moning of all the forces of a man's vigor 

 and personality in one supreme stroke. 

 Holding on, quite literally by the skin of 

 his teeth, the eel circles a section of the 

 pond with his tail and seems to lift it with 

 him. The line sings and the birch pole 

 bends nearly double. It is for a second 

 a question which will win, but the shoe- 

 maker's thread is very strong, and so is 

 the stout fisherman. 



Suddenly the eel gives up. Still hung" 

 to the bob he shoots into the air the full 

 237 



