114 LINES IN PLEASANT PLACES 



diabolical treachery on the part of the other and is out 

 of temper ; whether it is that they know all about 

 it, and were taught in their childhood that fouled lines 

 are generally broken lines, so much I know not ; but 

 be it in sea fishing or fresh water fishing, two fish hooked 

 and struggling within sight by instinct often make 

 towards each other. 



This happened in our case. My fish was the smaller, 

 and would have been the sooner played out if the 

 barbel that my friend had on his hook would have 

 allowed it; but just as I was winching in, with the 

 intention of getting it into the net with all possible 

 speed, my friend's fish made a deliberate dart to star- 

 board, and the result was a foul. To have attempted 

 playing them with our rods would have been ruin, 

 therefore we dropped them, and by getting the two 

 lines in my own hand and using them as one, I managed 

 to haul in the brace of fish by sheer strength, and the 

 somewhat novel feat was accomplished of getting into 

 the landing net a 3-lb. and a 5~lb. barbel upon lines 

 that were entangled. As our lines were of the fine 

 Nottingham description, and the gut fine also, this 

 was to say the least a piece of good fortune. There 

 will, I know, be some reader who has been in the pre- 

 dicament here described, and I feel that he smiles at 

 the thought of the fearful work of disentangling those 

 clinging, wet, white, undressed silk lines. I will tell 

 him. We cut them. 



The shoal below took time to reflect upon the cir- 

 cumstance of which they had no doubt been witnesses, 

 and we had no further touch of them for several minutes. 

 Then they came on again with an inspiring regularity, 

 distributing their favours alternately to myself and 

 friend. For an hour a barbel came to net every five 

 minutes ; and there was no chance of loss, as the fish 



