126 THE PIKE 



the heavy plunge. Off the fish went, therefore, 

 with the added weight of the wood and steel 

 stick-fast. It was verily a painful five minutes that 

 succeeded; fortunately, the tension of the line had 

 not been relaxed for an instant, and my friend re- 

 mained cool. The boatman peremptorily ordered 

 him to seize the so-and-so line, but the good fellow 

 listened to my yell of protest rather than to the orders 

 of the captain of the ship. I bade him take his 

 chance to lay hold of the gaff, and, having it, to hold 

 on grimly. And so it happened ; when the plunging 

 fish came his way, with the gaff upraised like a small 

 mast from the carcase, he gripped the handle and 

 hoisted the lunge, fighting fiercely, out of water and 

 deposited it among our feet, where in the confined 

 space there ensued amazing confusion until I knelt 

 upon the creature. Then we gave the lunge its coup 

 de grace with a stretcher, and for a little time looked 

 at one another contentedly and recovered breath. 



The odds had been really throughout against us. 

 The fish had been hooked far down the throat by 

 one triangle of the small phantom, and this was dis- 

 lodged by the settling blow. The delight of the now 

 converted boatman was edifying. He was profuse in 

 his apologies for having made light of the rod and 

 line and my English method, and above all for 



