A Fight with a Trout. 831 



flinders. I evaded this catch and threw again. I recall the moment. 

 A hermit-thrush, on the tip of a balsam, uttered his long, liquid, 

 evening note. Happening to look over my shoulder, I saw the peak 

 of Marcy gleam rosy in the sky (I can't help it that Marcy is fifty 

 miles off", and cannot be seen from this region ; these incidental 

 touches are always used). The hundred feet of silk swished thrcugh 

 the air, and the tail-fly fell as lightly on the water as a three-cent 

 piece (which no slamming will give the weight of a ten) drops upcn 

 the contribution-plate. Instantly there was a rush, a swirl. I struck, 



and " Got him, by !" never mind what Luke said I got him by. 



" Out on a fly," continued that irrevent guide ; but I told him to 

 back water and make for the center of the lake. The trout, as soon 

 as he felt the prick of the hook, was off like a shot, and took out the 

 whole of the line with a rapidity that made it smoke. " Give him 

 the butt ! " shouted Luke. It is the usual remark in such an emer- 

 gency. I gave him the butt ; and recognizing the fact and my spirit, 

 the trout at once sank to the bottom and sulked. It is the most 

 dangerous mood of a troiTt ; for you cannot tell what he will do 

 next. We reeled up a little, and waited five minutes for him to 

 reflect. A tightening of the line enraged him, and he soon developed 

 his tactics. Coming to the surface, he made straight for the boat 

 faster than I could reel in, and evidently with hostile intentions. 

 " Look out for him ! " cried Luke, as he came flying in the air. I 

 evaded him by dropping flat in the bottom of the boat ; and when I 

 picked my traps up, he was spinning across the lake as if he had a 

 new idea ; but the line was still fast. He did not run far. I gave 

 him the butt again ; a thing he seemed to hate, even as a gift. In a 

 moment the evil-minded fish, lashing the water in his rage, was 

 coming back again, making straight for the boat as before. Luke, 

 who was used to these encounters, having read of them in the 

 writings of travelers he had accompanied, raised his paddle in self- 

 defense. The trout left the water about ten feet from the boat, and 

 came directly at me with fiery eyes, his speckled sides flashing like 

 a meteor. I dodged as he whisked by with a vicious slap of his 

 bifurcated tail, and nearly upset the boat. The line was of course 

 slack; and the danger was that he would entangle it about me and 

 carry away a leg. This was evidently his game, but I entangled it. 

 and only lost a breast-button or two by tjie swiftly-moving string. The 



