THREE FISH 57 



down and watching till it hung in front of and even 

 touched their noses. But only once did the white- 

 scarred fish condescend to take the worm, and even 

 then, before I could strike, it was shot out of his 

 mouth to a distance of several inches, so great was 

 the scorn of the fish. 



An Irish regiment was quartered in the town just 

 then, and belonging to it were three or four keen 

 fishermen. Their luck with the fish was no better 

 than my own. 



About five o'clock one evening, at the Club, these 

 anglers' conversation turned on the white-scarred fish. 

 I suppose I had been going it a bit, for one of 

 them presently came out with a " Look here, I'll lay 

 five to one you don't catch him before we leave." 



" Done," was my answer, " and I'll lay the same 

 odds that I catch him wuthin the next four-and-twenty 

 hours." The bet was taken. 



The regiment was going in a week's time ; so that 

 if I lost my money, I might still win it back before 

 time was up. 



I felt certain that both these were very old fish, ** ^.A^ 

 who in all probability never moved at all in the day- 

 time nor ever touched a fly, but went roving round ai 

 fall of night to feed on smaller fish. 



