206 THE HALY WIEL 



he ever hooked. The laird was no worse off than others, 

 He did not go and hang himself, I suppose.' 



Not he ; nevertheless the worst remains to be told. 

 That very night there were poachers on the Monk's 

 Ford ; they secured the laird's lost fish, dead or dying 

 in the shallow water, with the fly in its mouth and half 

 a casting-line. It was too big to go into their sack, so 

 the fellows cut it in half, and made off. One half was 

 sent by train from St. Boswells Station, and the porter 

 who weighed it certifies that it only kicked the beam 

 at thirty-five pounds. Said I not well that such sorrow 

 as the laird carries about with him is irremediable ? The 

 mightiest salmon that ever straightened a line in the 

 water of Tweed ! 



