58 THE PIKE 



there be an experienced pike fisher in the group, the 

 conversation will seldom proceed far without some 

 reference to ' the ice freezing in the rings.' That is a 

 very fascinating thing to talk about by your study fire, 

 and it often happens ; the occurrence gives a touch of 

 adventure to your fishing, making you feel that you 

 are a worthy descendant of the hardy Norseman 

 when you venture afield with your pike rod to fish 

 through a short winter day. 



In stories for the Christmas numbers the sportsman 

 frequently manages to have some pressing occasion 

 for shooting or hooking something on Christmas 

 Eve, and no doubt the fiction is not infrequently 

 founded on fact. It is not so many years ago since, 

 having myself written a Christmas story of this 

 character, I determined to do the thing in real life ; 

 and as Christmas Eve fell on Saturday, I had a free 

 day for the purpose. It was one of those bracing, 

 frosty mornings over which many people wax senti- 

 mental, and when perhaps we all see an extra red in the 

 holly berries and a deeper green in its glossy leaves. 



There was at my disposal a nice little lake on the 

 estate of a friend within an hour's run of London by 

 train. Thick boots, gaiters, extra warm knickerbockers, 

 and an ulster barely kept one warm on the drive to the 

 railway station, and the young man who was waiting 



