138 ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS. 



than that last one lying anywhere about this pond, 

 I would like to see him " ; and as he spoke he 

 swept his paddle through the water, and the boat 

 started. I looked at my fly. The teeth of the 

 trout had torn the hackle half away, and shorn 

 off from the body one gaudy wing. An exclama- 

 tion from John started me. The fish had risen 

 again. I too saw his tail as he disappeared, and it 

 was as broad as a fan. 



" Mr. Murray," exclaimed John, " that fish is the 

 biggest trout I ever saw." 'T is full two feet long. 

 I saw him fair, broad side on. His mouth was 

 like a bear-trap. Eeady for a cast. Send the fly 

 straight for the centre of the wake, and if he 

 takes, strike like thunder ! " 



John was evidently getting excited, and the 

 glimpse I had of the trout had thrilled me as 

 the blast of a bugle might thrill a warrior har- 

 nessed for battle. The boat w^as forty feet away 

 when the tuft of gay plumes, mangled but still 

 brilliant, floated downward, and lighted amid the 

 glistening bubbles. I had not trailed it a yard 

 when a gleam of blue and yellow passed me, and 

 with a splash and plunge which threw the water 

 in silvery spray high into the air, the trout broke. 

 I saw the feathers disappear within his mon- 

 strous jaws, and, lifting myself involuntarily half 

 off my seat, I struck. I think John was con- 

 vinced that I struck hard enough that time, for 



