172 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



" Hasn't 'e got 'un?" replied: "I've got he and 

 he's got I." 



The general issue of these first casts is that the 

 rod-wielder, accustomed only to overhand casting, 

 has no idea of the psychological moment for loosen- 

 ing his hold upon the line and, consequently, the 

 bait takes some direction directly opposed to his 

 intention. It may occur that it will reach mid- 

 stream and there sink amongst the rocks before he 

 has commenced to draw (his experiences have not 

 taught him the need for haste in this), and so he 

 meets resistance from something at which he strikes 

 and, when it holds, as it most often does, he will 

 probably exclaim : " See ! I have him." 



It was for such a moment Mac waited to protest 

 against what he considered a waste of precious 

 time. This he did by throwing the gaff upon the 

 ground, thrusting his hands deep into the pockets 

 of his knickers and, while shifting his weight from 

 one leg to the other, humming : " I'se got he and 

 he's got I." There was a depth of scorn in this, 

 both for the wielder of the rod and for its owner, 

 which I hope I was the only one to feel. Yet Mac 

 was ever quick after this self-indulgence to cut an 

 ash twig and make a ring of it to put upon the rod 

 to go out and down the line, with the hope that the 

 stream might carry it so that a pull upon the 

 minnow might be made from such a direction as 

 would set it free. 



Casting from a reel may be very disconcerting, 

 as was no doubt the case with a most strenuous 

 advocate of this method when, at a recent competi- 

 tion, his bait persisted in going up a tree far away 

 to the right of the line marked out. I calculated at 



