vi A FEBRUARY PIKE 99 



to enjoy this miraculous gift of spring as I 

 would. The keeper, who appeared with 

 the frugal mid-day repast, was politely of 

 the same opinion, but there was a small 

 pike in the adjacent brook, and he would 

 esteem it a favour if it could be removed, as 

 it harried his trout and vexed his soul. To 

 be brief, it was removed, and it weighed 

 three pounds and a half. This was the 

 only fish that greeted the spring on the 

 first day. 



The second day was like unto the first, 

 and every whit as perfect more perfect in 

 fact, for the keeper had procured some live 

 baits, and the salted dace could be discarded. 

 His mind was not, however, quite free from 

 care, for it appeared that there was another 

 small pike in the adjacent brook, which 

 harried his trout and vexed his soul hardly 

 less than the first. This also was removed 

 with the help of a gudgeon on a paternoster, 

 and it weighed two pounds and a quarter ; 

 but the Kennet yielded nothing, though the 

 keeper, cheered by slaughter, talked in some- 

 what Gargantuan strain of a big pike seen 

 occasionally by himself and others. Asked 

 if this fish had been known to cause floods, 



