tensioned line emitted yEolian music as it stretched and stiffened under 

 the strain to which it was subjected; and for fifty minutes there was such 

 giving and taking, such sulking and rushing, such leaping and tearing, 

 such hoping and fearing, as would have ' injected life into the ribs of 

 death,' made an anchorite dance in very ecstasy, and caused anv true 

 angler to believe that his heart was a kettle-drum, evei'v sinew a jew's- 

 harp, and the whole frame-work of his excited nerves a full band of music. 

 And during all this time my canoe-man rendered efficient service in 

 keeping even pace with the eccentric movements of the struggling fish. 

 'Hold him head np, if possible!' was the counsel given me, and 'make 

 him work for every inch of line.' Whether, therefore, he took fiftv yards 

 or a foot, I tried to make him pull for it, and then to regain whatever was 

 taken as soon as possible. The result was an incessant clicking of the 

 reel, either in paying out or in taking in, with an occasional flurrv and 

 leap which could have been no more prevented than the onrushing of a 

 locomotive. Any attempt to have suddenly checked him by making 

 adequate resistance would have made leader, line or rod a wreck in an 

 instant. All that it was proper or safe to do was to give each just the 

 amount of strain and pressure it could bear with safety — not an ounce 

 more nor an ounce less — and I believe that I measured the pressure so 

 exactly that the .^train upon my rod did not vary half an ounce from the 

 first to the last of the struggle. Toward the close of the fight, when it 

 was evident that the 'jig was up,' and I felt myself master of the situation, 

 I took my stand upon a projecting point in the river, where the water was 

 shallow, and where the most favorable opportunity possible was afforded 

 the gaffer to give the struggling fish the final death thrust, and so end the 

 battle. It was skillfully done. The first plunge of the gaff brought him 

 to the greensward, and there lay out before me, in all his silver beauty and 

 magnificent proportions, my first salmon. He w^eighed thirty pounds, 

 measured nearly four feet in length, was killed in fifty minutes. It is said 

 that w^hen the good old Dr. Bethune landed his first salmon, ' he caressed it 

 as fondly as he ever caressed his first born.' I could onlv stand over mine 

 in speechless admiration and delight — panting wnth fatigue, trembling in. 

 verv ecstasy." 



Summing up his afterthoughts on this occasion, the author adds: 

 " The victory was a surfeit for the morning. With other fish in full view, 

 ready to give me a repetition of the grand sport I had already experienced, 

 I made no other cast, and retired perfectly contented. The beautiful fish 

 was laid down lovingly in the bottom of the canoe and born in triumph to 

 the camp, where fish and fisher were given such a hearty welcome amid 

 such hilarious enthusiasm as was befitting ' the cause and the occasion.' '* 

 A thrilling incident, well written. 



