'MY ENEMY' 145 



knowing that I could not follow along the bank 

 farther than the willow, and that the water 

 under it was too deep for me to take to the 

 stream and follow by that route. My plan 

 of campaign, like Moltke's, had not provided 

 for the enemy's procedure after the initial stages, 

 and a new plan had to be improvised. I deter- 

 mined to put the issue to a final test by hauling 

 his head to my bank when still a few yards 

 above the deep pool under the willow, and 

 to try the landing-net once more. He bored 

 on down the middle of the stream. The decision 

 had to be instantaneous. I put everything on 

 one venture, hauled him to my bank before 

 the water deepened, tried the landing-net again, 

 and failed to get him into it. He got clear, 

 plodded a yard up-stream, and dived into the 

 weeds. Then, as a last resort, I threw the 

 rod down in the meadow-grass, waded into 

 the water, followed the line of the gut into the 

 weeds, groped with my hands amongst them 

 for the fish, touched him lightly with the tips 

 of my fingers, moved them gently up his sides, 

 feeling with dismay the great breadth of his 

 back, and wondering whether I should ever 

 get a grip of him, or if he would bolt before 

 I could get near to his head. Gradually my 

 hands got to his gills, and then, with one hand 



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