FIRST EMPTYING. 47 



indebted to a farmer's man for a stick, a thread, and a pin, 

 and with this tackle, baited with a worm, in due time I 

 dragged out the finest minnow that e'er the sun shone on a 

 monster of a minnow, two and a half inches long at least : 

 and as it lay kicking about in its death struggles in the grass, 

 over which the sunlight played in golden gleam and shadow, 

 the heavy heel of the countryman came down accidentally on 

 my first prize and blotted it out for ever. Life has many 

 shocks that come in maturer age to sadden and warn us, but 

 to a lad who suddenly finds himself victor in a struggle with 

 a mighty monster of the deep, picture the supreme agony of 

 the moment when he sees his cherished prey, in all its 

 glittering sheen, assume the appearance and consistency of 

 a trod-upon strawberry tart ! 



