34 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING. 



that is why he was advised to purchase two.* 

 Finally the worm is on the bottom, the rod is 

 resting on a forked twig with its end stuck into the 

 turf ; the float is motionless, and the novice drowses 

 in the pleasant warmth. So wrapped is he in 

 quietude that he does not notice how from time to 

 time his float twitches slightly, remaining still be- 

 tween each movement, nor does he observe how 

 these twitches gradually become bobs, and finally 

 end in the float's slow disappearance. When he 

 first awakes to the situation the float has been 

 under some time. 



Hoping for just such another chub as that in his 

 basket, he takes up the rod. At first the hook 

 appears to have got caught in something on the 

 bottom, but on a steady pull it comes away with a 

 live weight at the end of it. For a moment or two 

 the fish, whatever it is, pulls hard, but soon it 

 comes to the top, a long, slim, serpentine shape. 

 The novice has to do with his first eel. He must 

 act promptly or there will be trouble. It is only a 

 small one, so there is no need for the net. He 

 pulls it out of the water, slithers it up the bank, 

 and gets his foot on it just behind the head, all as 



* Having lost the second, which is also a possibility, one can 

 find the depth by calculations, always remembering that if the 

 float lies flat, the shot are on the bottom, with, of course, the 

 gut below them and the hook. 



