276 



THE ANGLERS SOUVENIR. 



and trembling with excitement, and I was, if any- 

 thing, worse, his advice was not of much use. 

 Well, I stood in the bows of the boat, and the 

 monster towed us with increasing swiftness right 

 across the lake, which was about a quarter of a 

 mile broad at this part. When we came to the 

 weeds at the other side of the mere he turned 

 back again; and to prevent undue strain on the 

 rod in turning the boat, I ran to the other end 

 of it, and we were towed back again in precisely 

 the same way, and at a fair three miles an hour 

 pace. Our excitement was fast turning to awe 

 \ I ""^ L when, on reaching the other side of the mere, the 

 brute turned again, and began to make a slow 

 detour of the lake, stopping every now and then 

 to sulk at the bottom, but never allowing us to 

 get back much of our line, or to catch a glimpse 

 of him. In this way two hours passed away, and 

 the case began to assume a serious aspect. 



"Don't get into a funk, old man. I have seen 

 salmon take very much longer to kill ; and I have 

 heard of one being on nineteen hours at a stretch, 

 and when he was caught he was not a very big one, 

 either." 



"Aye, that is all very well for a salmon, but a 

 pike does not fight so long. I saw a thirty-three 

 pounder killed in a quarter of an hour, so this 

 must be a veritable shark." 



Well, matters went on in this way until four 

 hours had elapsed, and still we seemed no nearer 



