OCTOBER 261 



long ? It was getting on for dinner-time. 

 Had I had any luck ? 



"We're just in the holts wi' a good 

 ane," said John, realising that I was too 

 much engaged to be talkative. 



Swish ! sh-sh-sh-z. 



The sound came from afar, and I 

 trembled at the thought of what might 

 happen next. The salmon, if he liked, 

 could come down much more quickly 

 than I could reel up ; and by this time 

 the hook must have worn its socket loose. 

 . . . The anguish of that moment ! 

 Hoping to encourage the fish to keep 

 fronting the torrent, instinctively I had 

 slackened the strain. . . . All was well. 

 He was coming down, but not running 

 down ; dropping down tail-first. Slowly, 

 slowly, but with never a pause, his 

 tether shortened ; by and by he passed, 

 and I had him against the stream. " All 

 right now," I thought, and even said ; and 

 was speedily undeceived. If the salmon 

 had seemed fatigued, he had been, in- 

 advertently of course, misleading. He 



