i64 ANGLING & ART IN SCOTLAND 



enter with the contraband rods, while Johnny, eager 

 to complete the deed, quickly shoved the boat out 

 into mid-stream, scrambling nimbly in as he did 

 so. Alas ! in his haste he had forgotten to put 

 in the oars. 



The watchful crowd upon the bridge then ob- 

 served the two conspirators to feverishly tear up 

 the stretchers from the bottom of the boat, and 

 endeavour, with their aid, to pole themselves across 

 the river. But it was all to no purpose ; the 

 water was too deep for them to reach the bottom 

 with the short implements at their service ; the 

 inexorable stream swiftly carried them towards the 

 bridge. 



Picture the excitement that reigned upon that 

 bridge ! It was bad enough for those two wicked 

 creatures to take out a boat at all on the Sabbath ; 

 but beyond that, there was some mysterious object 

 which they had in view, merely to be guessed at 

 by the spectators, and which only served to heighten 

 the pitch of their curiosity. For the two guilty 

 participators in the crime, who looked on, it was 

 indeed an anxious moment ; a masterly retreat was 

 seriously meditated ; — for if the boat were to drift 

 down stream much farther, it ran the risk of being 



