THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



299 



is drawn in to the side, when lo ! the bait comes 

 out of the water with a jerk, and the pike is free. 



" Ah, I thought that fellow had not pouched. 

 He was simply holding on. The bait is not much 

 torn, so here it goes on again. He will probably 

 run at it again. Ah, there he is, and he has got 

 it between his great jaws." 



At the bottom of the pool, which is not very 

 deep, you can see two small gleaming objects. 

 They are the head and the tail of the gudgeon. 

 Its middle part is in the pike's mouth ; and with 

 those white specks as a starting-point you can trace 

 the long body of the jack, which would otherwise 

 be invisible. The master gives the jack ten more 

 minutes, and still it has not swallowed the bait. 

 He loses patience at this, and says, 



"We cannot waste all the morning with this 

 little fellow, John, so I will try and swing him 

 out." 



So he gently draws the pike down-stream, and 

 within a foot of a low grassy bank, and then with 

 a mighty heave he tries to jerk the fish out by the 

 hold of its back-bent teeth upon the bait. 



There is a sharp struggle on the top of the water, 

 and the pike escapes. 



The master smiles grimly as he proceeds to 

 change his tackle to a spinning flight, for he will 

 not be played with again. 



Twenty yards lower down he has another run, 

 and, striking hard, he finds that he has hooked 



