A SPRING FISHING 15 



sized water-rat brushing his whiskers. Jean 



Pierre was fumbling for his leather snufF- 



pouch, and at his movement the little 



beast dived, giving us an exact facsimile 



of the splash I had seen a few moments 



before. Now Jean, having taken his pinch 



of snuff, also extracted from his pouch a 



piece of lead, and began, with the aid of 



his clasp-knife, peeling from it a long thin 



strip. This, with three or four neat turns, 



he fastened round the shank of my fly. 



So was I tempted, and fell. After all, the 



fish were not near the surface, and if the 



river held a single trout this was the only 



possible way to lure him from the bottom. 



I was now casting well down stream, 



working my fly up and across the current. 



At the third cast the line tightened. 



I struck, and found myself fast in a good 



fish. By keeping a severe strain on him 



we avoided some dangerous-looking snags 



at the tail of the pool ; then the fish turned 



suddenly — there w^as a perilous second of 



slack line till he came fighting hard into 



deep water. Three times did Jean Pierre 



stand by with the net, and three times 



were those wild up-stream rushes repeated. 



