318 I GO A- FISHING. 



was right downward ; then feeling the line he rose again 

 and turned rapidly toward the dam, and shot down the 

 swift current, seeking to descend the sluice-way. Here 

 the beautiful rod came into play, and with its gentle but 

 uniform and steel-like spring, it swung him head up be- 

 fore he reached the edge of the timbers. If he had gone 

 ten feet farther he would have passed under the gate, 

 and then it would have been all up with my tackle. If 

 he had not been well hooked he would have been swept 

 away by the mere force of the current on his body. 

 Holding him steadily in the current, meeting an occa- 

 sional swift dash, and keeping his upper jaw above wa- 

 ter so that the stream poured into his open throat, it took 

 not more than three minutes to reduce him to such sub- 

 jection that I could swing him alongside of the raft, and 

 lift him out with the landing-net. It was a short, sharp, 

 and spirited contest, and the little rod did superb execu- 

 tion. 



Dupont joined me on the raft before I had landed the 

 first trout, and in a few moments was busy as I had been 

 with a strong and lively three-pounder, whose strength he 

 exhausted most skillfully. We had killed six or eight, 

 when I became anxious about my tackle, for it was a 

 very risky place to work in. If one of these stout fel- 

 lows should once happen to gain the edge of the sluice 

 it might be destruction to rod or line, and possibly to 

 both, unless I could save them by a miracle of quick 

 work. So I went up to the house for a somewhat stron- 

 ger and less valued rod. But I had become so accus- 

 tomed to the action of the Norris rod, that, after landing 

 one fish with the heavier rod, I returned to the other and 

 used it till we were called to breakfast. 



The ladies were awake and in the best of spirits. I 



