30 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



beneath my present ambition. At length I reached the 

 very stone on which I stood in the morning, and, with 

 nervous, anxious eye, I made my throw. Slowly the 

 bait swung round, and described an arc of a circle 

 to the charmed spot. A rush, a dash and splash, and 

 away flew my line, the reel discoursing sweetest melody 

 (perhaps not sweetest, for the music of the deep-mouthed 

 pack deserves the superlative degree), and I had my 

 gallant tormentor fast. Every effort that ever was 

 successfully perpetrated by fish was put in play. 

 Down and up the stream he frantically rushed ; first 

 to one side, then the other, but all without avail. Ten 

 minutes of these futile efforts told a tale, and the 

 shortened and less vigorous exertions proclaimed an 

 early approach to the finish. Carefully I backed out, 

 step by step, feeling cautiously the inequalities of the 

 ground, till I stood confident on terra firma. My 

 attendant waited, with landing net ready, and at a 

 preconcerted signal I gave the word ; excitement 

 caused him to act too precipitously, and the splash 

 made Instilled fresh vigour into my victim's now 

 exhausted frame. Game to the last, another effort 

 was made for life, and with an impetuous rush he 

 again started for his time-honoured, watery haunts. 

 With a nervous grasp on my rod, I was prepared to 

 give him line ; but imagine my astonishment when the 



