LADY PLAYING A TROUT. 319 



on the line roused him up with pain, and he came up 

 with a rush and bound, flinging himself clear out of 

 the water, his gleaming belly and speckled sides pre- 

 senting one of those sights that make a sportsman's 

 heart leap with excitement. Baffled in this, he would 

 stop and shake the hook as a clog would a snake, and 

 failing to clear himself, come dashing on the line, 

 hoping in this way to get " slack " enough to spit the 

 barbed iron out of his mouth. Watching every move- 

 ment, she would reel up with a rapidity that, despite 

 of his efforts, kept the line taut, and meeting every new 

 attempt with the same steady skill, she at length had 

 the pleasure of seeing him turn over on his side con- 

 quered at last. She took three in this way in a short 

 time, the whole weighing, if I remember right, over 

 thirty pounds. The old boatman was not booked up as 

 to New York belles. They have hooked larger game 

 than trout, and played them longer, and killed them 

 more remorselessly, hence they take to this sort of sport 

 naturally as a duck does to water. 



Yours truly. 



