8 FISHING GOSSIP. 
him with a paternoster; whilst he stops there no- 
thing will bite, depend upon it; you might-as well 
tempt a snake-fascinated paroquette with a cater- 
pillar! Ha! I have him...a John, by all the 
powers !—a big bullying pike, come here to make a 
breakfast.—Julia, the landing-net—quick—don’t wait 
till he’s done up, but pop it under him the moment 
you get a chance, for whilst he can show fight he 
keeps tail towards you and his head down, with the 
gut in the corner of his great mouth where he’s got 
no teeth ; but as soon as he’s beaten, his mouth slews 
round, and the line will be in the “breakers” in a 
moment, So—bravely done: a six-pounder at the 
least, and in capital condition ! 
But what on earth can Charley and Blanche be 
about all this time? They actually haven't begun 
yet! Well, the fact is that Blanche and Charley 
have contrived to get their two lines into a most in- 
genious tangle, and somehow the juxtaposition of so 
many pair of taper fingers doesn’t seem to have much 
expedited matters.— 
% * * * 
But there! what’s the good of talking and making 
myself melancholy—one can’t eat one’s cake and keep 
it: it’s all over and done with, and here I am back 
at my venerable Coach’s again—Homer, Horace, 
Livy—Livy, Horace, Homer—the old grind! Adieu 
to gudgeon and gudgeon-fishing, Hurley Bucks, 
