LEAFLESS WOODS 197 



a brewer's bung cork, with deep notches cut 

 to receive it ; a capital contrivance it is. 



" Hold the stick," he whispered. 



Then he got a gudgeon out, hooked him 

 just below the back fin, not in his back, placed 

 the line over the fork, and coiled the rest of the 

 line round his hand. No float, for, as he whis- 

 pered, the less the bait had to hamper it, the 

 more natural it looked. Then he gently 

 dropped it about four or five feet out in deep 

 water, just off the reeds' edge, and paid out 

 line ; or rather unwound it from his hand, as 

 the gudgeon swam about. 



In less than three minutes the line was going 

 over that fork rapidly ; then it stopped. Giv- 

 ing me the stick to hold, he gathered up the 

 slack line, hand over hand, until he felt a strain, 

 then he jerked a little. There was not any 

 need of this, for when a pike gorges, he natu- 

 rally hooks himself. No play did the pike get, 

 for the tackle was strong ; we kept the line 

 clear from fouling, and Will pulled it up on the 

 dead sedges. One cut across that fish's verte- 

 brae, and he was perfectly quiet. 



" Try for another, Will," I whispered; 

 1 'they generally go in couples;" and in less 

 than ten minutes number two shared the same 



