A Sportsman at Large 113 



me this unworthy trick, became reckless and snapped my 

 " claret and grouse," possibly by accident and I held him. 

 I had not had him on long when I became conscious of a 

 peculiar double drag on my line. I had been casting the 

 said " claret and grouse " as a stretcher with a " fiery brown " 

 a favourite with the sea trout as a bob fly. 



Presently it dawned upon me that one of the latter tribe 

 had seized the " bob " whilst I was playing his weightier 

 cousin on the tail fly ,' so that now I had two customers to 

 deal with. It is not often that one has the chance of playing 

 a salmon and a sea trout simultaneously on the same cast, is 

 it ? The by no means welcome " trutta " of course took the 

 direct control of the " solar " out of my hands and enabled 

 the latter to free itself. I brought the sea trout to net ; a 

 nice fish of one and a half pounds ; but it was not by any 

 means a welcome guest in the boat. In fact in delivering 

 the coup de grace on the boat's gunwale, I performed the act 

 with such spleen that I practically knocked its precious head 

 off. Surely, my nasty temper, was, under the circumstances, 

 excusable ? 



But a day came when I actually did extract a salmon from 

 the Lough. I had been having fair sport with the sea trout, 

 and when drifting some forty feet from a rocky shore, I made 

 a long cast where the water rippled around, and lapped 

 upon, a semi-submerged boulder. As my fly swung round, 

 there was a big boil, and I found myself fast in something 

 which sure was not a sea trout. My supposition proved 

 correct. McDonald knew what was up and acted accordingly. 



" Aw, praize be teu the blessed saints ! Faith ut's a salmon 

 yez have, yer 'anner," he shouted, and commenced to get a 

 good way on the boat ; so that I was able to keep a tight 

 line on the fish, which gave me fifteen minutes' keen excitement, 

 ere the net was slipped under it. It proved to be only nine 

 pounds, but was in excellent condition. I was highly delighted, 

 and " Mac " on the strength of the adventure indulged in 

 an extra glass, or two or three of his beloved potheen. 



Now for the sequel, which exemplifies the great reach 

 possessed by the long arm of coincidence. 



There had arrived at Burrishoole that day a new guest, 



8 



