AN ANGLER'S PARADISE 117 



on the mind's eye of a glimpse of purple and 

 silver. No distinct form of the fish was seen ; 

 only a dark wedge-shaped object, visible for a 

 second above the grey surface of the water, de- 

 noted the upper half of the great tail. 



With commendable presence of mind, I waited 

 until the movement was quite completed, only 

 then giving the necessary sharp strike from the 

 wrist, and the fish was firmly hooked. 



Hooked ! yes ! Or were the boat and I hooked 

 to the fish, to be towed everlastingly about at the 

 sweet will of the huge creature? At present, as 

 he swam in measured and stately fashion around 

 the boat, he seemed oblivious of the fact that a 

 dangerous hook was in his mouth ; but how long 

 would that last? What would be his next move? 

 Such questions as these lashed the mind, as with 

 knees playing like castanets, one held on with 

 hopeless determination to the alarmingly convex 

 trout rod. 



This same trout rod had already in the earlier 

 part of the week landed three salmon (two of them 

 also on Loch Poulary), the largest of which was 

 eighteen and a half pounds ; but that fact was not 

 calculated to inspire confidence, for the gut then 



