AX AUTUMX FISHING 177 



and lashed upon the surface, while Jean 

 stood upon the bank and roundly cursed 

 him in raucous Breton. Here actions did 

 not tally with harsh words ; never once did 

 that fish get the butt, but only respectful 

 attention, and when he chose to " slither " 

 down the pool, then Jean Pierre 

 " slithered " too. He made wild rushes 

 and appalling leaps just as he felt disposed, 

 and then would pause to shake his head, 

 like a dog who shakes a rat. Twice in 

 sheer hopelessness was the line slackened, 

 but each time it pulled itself together to 

 tentatively coax the floundering fish. At 

 length it chanced that the salmon sheered 

 towards the near bank, and hung motionless 

 for a moment to think matters over. At 

 a sign from Jean Pierre I slipped quietly 

 into the water, and by luck rather than 

 good management gaffed the fish behind 

 the shoulder as he turned. . . . The fly 

 came away as we earned him up the 

 bank. 



We laid him caressingly among the 

 bracken. Jean's hands still trembled as he 

 mopped his forehead and took an ample 

 pinch of snufF, while I had to light a con- 



12 



