ON MOOSEHEAD LAKE 129 



scales of the angler's imagination. Other days 

 passed, and then, one evening just as the sun was 

 setting, a " Silver Doctor " overcame the wariness 

 of the spotted warrior, and again the issue was 

 joined between man and trout. The fish knew that 

 there was safety in the sunken tree-top, and made 

 heroic efforts to reach it; but the fisherman knew 

 this also, and met every rush by giving the butt of 

 the rod. The boarders on the hotel veranda saw 

 the conflict and shouted encouragement to the 

 anxious angler. Canoeists stopped at a respectful 

 distance to watch the struggle. Nell was at the 

 oars and kept the boat well out in the middle of 

 the pool. The light rod bent almost double as the 

 sturdy fighter made his great rushes for liberty. 

 The reel buzzed as the fish carried out the line, or 

 clicked gently as the fisherman worked the captive 

 towards the boat. 



Any one of a great number of things may happen 

 at such a time. The hook may tear out, slack line 

 is fatal, the line may break, the snood or leader 

 may part, the rod may give way, an earthquake 

 may chance along; in short, there is no catastrophe 

 which is not liable to occur when you have a big 

 fish at the other end of a line. The worst of it is 

 that all these possibilities visit the mind of the 

 fisherman at once. There is one other possibility; 

 namely, that you may land the fish. That is just 

 what happened this time; and when he was fairly 

 in the net that fisherman let forth a whoop which 



