vii FISHERMAN BILLY 119 



line, well away from rowlocks, oars, and 

 other hindrances, a sufficiency of swivels on 

 the trace, and, last and most important, some 

 power of self-restraint ; the bait must be 

 swung and not hurled. Swing it quite 

 gently and it will travel an immense dis- 

 tance by its own weight, picking the line 

 up cleanly and gradually as it goes. My 

 thirty yards of line run out without let or 

 hindrance, and then, after giving the bait a 

 second or two to sink nearly to the bottom, 

 I begin to draw it in, working it slowly 

 with the rod between each draw of the left 

 hand. In deep water one can hardly spin 

 too slowly. Old Billy watches with a 

 cynical eye. Mr. Jones, he observes, can 

 throw his bait fifty or sixty yards. Evi- 

 dently the dead body is still in his mind, 

 and the tribute to Mr. Jones is not so im- 

 portant as it might seem. If the positions 

 were reversed, and I was in the counting- 

 house while Mr. Jones was in the punt, I 

 doubt not that the fifty or sixty yards would 

 be placed to my credit. 



Thirty yards are sufficient for the day at 

 any rate. Before the bait has travelled ten 

 it is checked, and I have that supreme 



