TWO RED LETTER SALMON 123 



sudden stoppage ? It was not the halt of sulkiness. 

 I knew that well. Not daring to speak my fear I 

 looked at Guthrie, who at once put it into words 

 " Round a rock." Down-stream and up-stream I cau- 

 tiously moved, the rod never altering its tension curve. 

 The racing river was cut by the tight line, so that there 

 was a hissing heard above wind and stream. Some- 

 how, though the chances were a million to one against 

 me, I felt that the fish was still held by the hook. 

 Five minutes of this suspense brought a different ver- 

 dict from Guthrie : " Ah ! ye needn't bother ; ye'll 

 find the heuk, nae doot, but nae fish." 



" I am not so sure of that," I said. " Get the boat 

 down, Guthrie, and we'll go out to him, anyhow." The 

 boat was brought down accordingly, and out we went. 

 The line was winched in cautiously (I might almost say 

 prayerfully), and well, something inside my waist- 

 coat gave a mighty thump, and I could feel my face 

 whiten. For, behold, the salmon marvellous to relate 

 was still on, and as we approached to within a few 

 yards of the rock the uplifted rod cleared the line, and 

 the fish sped up-stream to the sharp music of the reel. 

 Quickly as might be Guthrie brought me to shore, 

 and the remainder of the battle was fought out from 

 the shingle. There was one rush of nearly a hundred 

 yards, then the fish calmed down and answered to the 

 winch, moving down, nevertheless, much too persis- 

 tently to Scylla and Charybdis. 



Confound it, the old peril was coming close again. 

 The good sign was that, as I followed on the bank, I 

 could keep on reeling in line. A sheer towards the 

 rock of offence prompted the thought that the salmon 

 had been under its protection before, and I put on 

 extra strain and kept him this side of it. By this time 

 the fish was getting exhausted, but the distance from 



