OCTOBER 251 



best gillie in the Highlands ! He was 

 already delivering heartfelt felicitations. 



" Take a drink, John." 



"Yes, Sir : wi'richtguid wull. . . . This 

 is to be a stiff job, Sir, and a long ane." 



" You didn't see him, John ? " 



" No, Sir ; but I ken the place. They're 

 aye vera big fish that lie here. In fact, 

 this pool and the bit just below the mill- 

 stream, whaur the Maister has been fishin' 

 a' day, are the only casts in the water 

 that ye can really depend on." 



In the uplifting excitement of the 

 moment, John was candid. 



" But what about Peter, John ? " 



" O, we maun e'en try no' to think 

 aboot Peter. It was here that the forty- 

 twa-pounder was ta'en last season at 

 this time o' the month, too. Losh, Sir ! " 

 he added as the reel whizzed, " should we 

 no' be movin' doon ? " 



I should have been glad to go down- 

 stream ; but it would not have been easy 

 to do so for more than about thirty yards, 

 and therefore, as the pull of the fish had 



