20 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



fortunately, it was not yet landed, nor did it seem at all 

 disposed to be tractable. At first he rushed madly 

 down the middle of the pool, ploughing a deep furi'ow 

 as he went, and then sprang wildly into the air, trying 

 the strength and elasticity of my tackle to the utmost. 

 This, however, was scarcely the most critical part of 

 the struggle ; for sullenly retiring under the base of 

 one of the above-mentioned masses of peat, bent ap- 

 parently on wearing out my patience, he remained 

 immovable, in spite of all efforts to dislodge him. My 

 tackle was not strong enough to drag him out by main 

 force ; and, though it was scarcely probable that he 

 would be able to rid himself of a double hook, yet 

 there was a great danger of his fretting the line against 

 some stone or root until it should give way. Donald 

 seemed to think that my only chance was to get him 

 out of his retreat as quickly as possible, and accord- 

 ingly began to throw stones at him. 



At this moment our attention was attracted by a 

 shout from Walter ; and, on looking towards him, we 

 saw at once that he also was in deadly struggle with 

 some unseen antagonist ; and, judging by the hyper- 

 bolic shape and the peculiar quivering motion of his 

 rod, it was no contemptible contest in which he was 

 engaged. I could not however, at present at least, 

 dispense with Donald, and so, very selfishly, left Walter 

 to shift for himself. My fi: c h now was once more 

 induced to leave his retreat and resume the contest, 

 which every moment threatened the rupture of my 

 tackle. His varied evolutions, dives, and flights 

 through the air, as they thoroughly baffled my skill in 

 dealing with them at the time, so they now completely 

 beggar description. Gradually, however, he began to 

 put out signals of distress ; his evolutions became more 

 confined, his struggles less severe ; and at length, to 



