62 A Sportsman at Large 



hole on the far side, with an equally barren result. I fished 

 that pond over and over again on subsequent occasions, but 

 never had I the ghost of a bite, so I have come to the 

 conclusion that the ponderous bulk of this perch had resulted 

 from his cannibalistic practices on what other fish had origin- 

 ally shared the water with him, and that at last he had 

 remained monarch of all he surveyed, but rationless, hence 

 the prompt avidity with which he had seized my worm as soon 

 as presented. But if half-starved, he certainly did not -look 

 it, for a handsomer or better-conditioned specimen of his tribe 

 it would be hard to imagine. 



It was now time to wend our way to the Round Pond 

 again, where Wilson was to pick us up with the wagonette. 



We passed along the banks of the Big Lake on our way, 

 where I gazed with longing eyes at the mallard, tufted duck 

 and pochards which were in evidence. Passing a bed of 

 round-reeds, I noticed that they were being violently agitated, 

 whilst here and there big ripples showed where undoubtedly 

 fish of some sort were moving. 



"Hullo, Ted," I exclaimed, "Dashed if they haven't 

 re-stocked the lake again, and here have we been thinking 

 it fishless. We must be after these jokers next time we get a 

 permit." 



" Edward of the Gills " concurred. 



And so it came to pass that I wrote to good Mrs. Begg 

 for leave for a particular day, some fortnight later. 



On the preceding night Ted and I went over and dropped 

 a dose of ground bait, consisting of brewers' grain, greaves, 

 bread, bran and boiled potatoes in two likely-looking swims. 



The next morning saw us mounting our tackle betimes. 



The depth was not great and there was something in the 

 liveliness of the water which told of the presence of fish many 

 of them ! I bent on two medium hooks, the one baited with 

 worm, the other with bread paste. We had plumbed the 

 depth the previous evening. 



No sooner were our floats in action than they became 

 lively. 



At once I was playing what I supposed was a single 

 fish, but found I had one on each hook. I failed to net them 



