SALMON-FISHING. 69 



gains on him, till at the tail of Langholmen I have 

 the delight of getting, for the first time since he rose, 

 a fair sight of his broad and shining bulk, as he lies 

 drifting sulkily and indolently down the clear shallows. 

 I exult with the savage joy which the gladiator may 

 have felt when he perceived for the first time the 

 growing weakness of his antagonist, and I set no 

 bounds to my estimate of his size. Fifty pounds at 

 least ! I proclaim loudly to Ole, is the very minimum 

 of the weight I give him. Ole smiles and shakes 

 his head detractingly. The phlegmatic, unsympa- 

 thetic, realistic wretch ! On I go, however, wading 

 knee-deep over the glancing shingle. The lowest 

 pool, and my last hope before impassable rapids» 

 Laerneset, is before me, and after wading waist-deep 

 across the confluent stream at the end of the island, 

 I gain the commanding bank and compel my now 

 amenable monster into the deep, still water, out of 

 the influence of the current And now, feebler and 

 feebler grow his rushes, shorter and shorter grows 

 the line, till mysterious whirlpools agitate the calm 



