A Sportsman at Large 251 



my dear mother used to play it on her harp. Again, thank 

 you ! thank you ! " 



After His Lordship had departed in peace, I took to sea- 

 fishing, a sport to which, faute de mieux, I was much addicted. 



So I chartered a twelve- tonner manned by a North Briton 

 (the inhabitants of the Orkneys are apt to take deep offence 

 if rated as Scots) of the name of Gunn, who, when not engaged 

 in maritime amenities, earned a hard but honest living by 

 renovating the footgear of the inhabitants of Pomona. 



Ted had, by this time, made himself scarce, and so had 

 Marcus, brother of my C.O. ; so that Henry George was the 

 only one of my own sex and condition that remained to bear 

 me company. I am afraid that the last-named did not appre- 

 ciate the job, for " when the stormy winds did blow," he 

 " generally went below," to find such seclusion as the " cabin " 

 might grant. In propitious weather, when the surface of 

 the sea was calm and serene, he would hold out gallantly, until 

 we came to our moorings for cod or haddock fishing ; then, 

 when I began impaling the useful but repulsive looking lug- 

 worms, his soul would sicken again, and the angling proceedings 

 would interest him no more. 



This cod-fishing, if not highly exciting, had its thrills ; for 

 whilst the tide was running at half ebb or flow, and always 

 providing that we had taken our bearings correctly, we (Gunn 

 and I) were kept busy. The first time I let my line down 

 with its length of steel trace, I thought I had fouled a rock, 

 and so began to curse my luck ; but, having put on a vigorous 

 strain, I felt the obstruction lift a few feet. 



" That's a fish ye have, sir-r," called out the skipper. " Wind 

 up quick ! " 



All very well to say " Wind up quick," when I could only 

 lift the creature a foot or two at a time, with twenty fathoms 

 of line to reel in, and the top of my stout sea-rod bent right 

 below the surface of the water. My hands and wrists became 

 numbed by the strain; but at last, gazing down into the 

 clear depths, I could see gyrating vigorously a silver body, 

 which appeared to be about the size of a normal whiting. 



As the roll of line thickened on the winch-pin, the flashing 

 form assumed larger dimensions, until at last it came flounder- 



