i8 WATERSIDE SKETCHES. 



honouring the fish by the act ; and, unhooking the gimp to 

 which the hooks were attached from the tracing-swivel, 

 dropped his pikeship, with due regatd to decency and pre- 

 servation, into a large rush basket that, I suspect, had often 

 done similar duty aforetime. 



" The lady was uncomnionly methodical, I noticed. In 

 precisely the proper place for handiness, there was a tin case, 

 stored with spinning tackle already baited, leaving her no- 

 thing to do at each capture but attach the loop to the swivel. 

 This saved her the unpleasant necessity of meddling with the 

 small dead fish employed as bait, and the much more un- 

 pleasant necessity of gouging the murderous triangles out of 

 the pike's formidable jaws — labour I fain hoped fell to the 

 share of some male relative at home. 



" A complimentary sentence trembled at the tip of my 

 tongue, but her appearance furnished me no encourage- 

 ment to utter it. Besides, there was no time, since before re- 

 suming operations she gave her punt the benefit of half a 

 dozen vigorous strokes of the oars, by which movement the 

 few paces which had separated us were quadrupled ; and, as 

 you must confess, it would have been simply ridiculous V> 

 make a speaking trumpet of your hand, and bawl at the 

 to.p of your voice — 



" ' Allow me, madam,' or ' dear madam,' as the case might 

 be, ' to congratulate you upon the clever manner in which 

 you killed that fish.' 



" Absurd, would it not ? 



" My amateur boatman furthermore began to taunt me 

 upon my idleness, my non-success, ■ my moon-strucky 

 behaviour. To taunt was to rouse. I (metaphorically) 

 girded up my loins, and bade the fish to come on, that I 



