156 LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY 



behind me and got hold of the line, which I cut and 

 wound around my finger; then I made my way to- 

 ward the end of the log and the place in the rocks, 

 leading my fish along much exhausted on the top of 

 the water. By an effort worthy the occasion I got 

 down within reach of the fish, and, as I have already 

 confessed, thrust my thumb into his mouth and 

 pinched his cheek; he made a spring and was free 

 from my hand and the hook at the same time; for a 

 moment he lay panting on the top of the water, then, 

 recovering himself slowly, made his way down 

 through the clear, cruel element beyond all hope of 

 recapture. My blind impulse to follow and try to 

 seize him was very strong, but I kept my hold and 

 peered and peered long after the fish was lost to 

 view, then looked my mortification in the face and 

 laughed a bitter laugh. 



" But, hang it ! I had all the fun of catching the 

 fish, and only miss the pleasure of eating him, which 

 at this time would not be great. " 



"The fun, I take it," said my soldier, "is in tri- 

 umphing, and not in being beaten at the last." 



"Well, have it so; but I would not exchange 

 those ten or fifteen minutes with that trout for the 

 tame two hours you have spent in catching that 

 string of thirty. To see a big fish after days of 

 small fry is an event; to have a jump from one is a 

 glimpse of the sportsman's paradise; and to hook 

 one, and actually have him under your control for 

 ten minutes, — why, that is the paradise itself as 

 long as it lasts." 



