78 THE PIKE 



two and three pounds, and, fortunately, was hooked 

 without the gut coming in contact with his sharp-set 

 teeth. He gave me a lively dance up and down 

 that shallow before I could greet him in the landing 

 net, and it was with sincere satisfaction that I 

 relieved the bonny brown trout of the stream from 

 one of their hereditary enemies. 



I can recall another occasion, a day intended to 

 be devoted to grayling fishing, when, disgusted with 

 the lack of sport, I had sat me down on a felled 

 trunk by a stretch of the river winding through a 

 marsh intersected with rushy ditches, and the keeper 

 casually remarked that in the particular part where 

 we happened to be there were generally one or two 

 pike. All the rivers in the country were abnormally 

 low that year, and no part of this could be at any 

 time called deep. It so happened that I had only 

 one artificial bait in a general box which I carried, and 

 that was a piece of silver and reddened metal curved 

 in rude resemblance of a fish ; at any rate, it spun 

 properly. I had luckily a small trace that would 

 meet the emergency after a fashion, and, without 

 much serious intent, I cast this bait down stream, 

 and worked it slowly up parallel with the bank. 



As if he knew that all his tribe were free to live 



