Tear and haul
him down to you before he can make to his home, while the keeper runs
round with the net . . . There, he is on shore. Two pounds, good
weight. Creep back more cautiously than ever, and try again. . . .
There. A second fish, over a pound weight. Now we will go and
recover the flies off the hatches; and you will agree that there is
more cunning, more science, and therefore more pleasant excitement,
in 'foxing' a great fish out of a stop-hole, than in whipping far and
wide over an open stream, where a half-pounder is a wonder and a
triumph. As for physical exertion, you will be able to compute for
yourself how much your back, knees, and fore-arm will ache by nine
o'clock to-night, after some ten hours of this scrambling, splashing,
leaping, and kneeling upon a hot June day. This item in the day's
work will of course be put to the side of loss or of gain, according
to your temperament: but it will cure you of an inclination to laugh
at us Wessex chalk-fishers as Cockneys.
So we will wander up the streams, taking a fish here and a fish
there, till--Really it is very hot.
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