72 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



" Whew, pro-di-gious ! Greatest trout ever taken at me 

 Spring Pond since my memory !" Then replacing fish and 

 scales, he turned and looked sharply along the table, while 

 the hubbub was silenced in an instant. " You Charles, 

 Henry, Tom, you will all three remain after school, to-morrow 

 morning !" 



This was said with a severity that chilled the hearts of 

 those of us named, for remaining "after school" was well 

 known to portend punishment of some sort. 



However, by the time the terrible hour of judgment came, 

 the whole story of the capture having reached his ears, he 

 was evidently more disposed, at that awful moment, when all 

 the other boys had vanished, and we left alone with him to 

 receive sentence, to laugh at the affair himself, than to be 

 severe with us, so we got off with a slight reproof. 



The incident which had caused so much fun was this : 

 During the whole day of Saturday there had been a match 

 going on among us all, as to who should catch the most and 

 largest fish. It so happened that I had either not been in 

 the mood for fishing, or had been in poor luck, for I had 

 caught little or nothing. 



As evening closed the party embarked in the boat to return 

 across the Pond, and were quizzing me most unmercifully for 

 my poor success ; and I in return was making empty boasts, 

 which I had no dream of realizing, as I stood in the bow idly 

 lashing the water with my line, that I would surely catch a 

 larger fish than all their's put together, before we reached the 

 other shore. There was no bait on my hook, and there seemed 

 surely no great probability of my performing any such miracle. 

 Our boat was slowly winding among the buried logs, of 

 which I have spoken, when suddenly, as my line dropped in 

 our wake, the gleam of the leaden sinkers caught the eye of 

 a huge fish which made its lair under the logs, and in a twink- 

 ling I was jerked head-foremost over the bow into the water, 

 amidst the laughing shouts of my companions, who under- 



