300 



THE ANGLERS SOUVENIR. 



a fish of six or seven pounds, which gives him a 

 decent amount of play before John lifts it out with 

 the landing net. 



So he goes on down the river, getting a run here 

 and there as the day wears on, missing some and 

 basketing some. 



A cool west wind sweeps the first of the dying 

 leaves off the trees, and carries to him the sound 

 of his friends' shooting in the stubbles ; the water- 

 hens "rustle in the reeds, and fly out with a great 

 splutter ; a weasel, following a rabbit, crosses his 

 path, and when John shies a stone at it, coolly 

 stops as if to ask, ' ' What do you mean by that, 

 you impertinent fellow '\ " and disturbed coveys 

 of partridges whirr over his head. The sky is 

 covered with opaline clouds, and long rays of misty 

 sunshine stream down here and there. As he 

 pushes through a coppice, he stops to gather a 

 pocketful of nuts, and stains his fingers with the 

 blackberries. Presently master and man sit down 

 on a fallen tree, and eat their lunch with an ex- 

 cellent appetite. 



When lunch and a pipe are finished, he puts on 

 a fresh bait, and spins it across a likely pool. 

 There is a swirl in the water, and as he strikes 

 he feels that he has hooked a good fish. After 

 a few minutes' play, it comes near to the surface, 

 and, to his astonishment, full seven feet behind 

 where the taut line is cutting the water, he sees 

 its tail above the water. A pike seven feet long ! 



