f a salmon occurred near the fly.
It was followed by the _whir_ of the reel as the line flew out like
lightning, sawing right through the skin of my fingers, (which by the
way are now so seamed and scarred that writing is neither so easy nor so
pleasant as it used to be).

The burst that now ensued was sudden and tremendous! The salmon flashed
across the pool, then up the pool, then down the pool. It was evidently
bent on mischief. My heart misgave me, for the place is a bad one--all
full of stumps and stones, with the furious rapid before mentioned just
below, and the rough unsteady stones of the old dike as an uncertain
path-way to gallop over should the fish go down the river. I held on
stoutly for a few seconds as he neared the head of the rapid, but there
is a limit to the endurance of rods and tackle. What made the matter
worse was that the dike on which I stood terminated in a small island,
to get from which to the shore necessitated swimming, and if he should
go down the big rapid there was little chance of his stopping until he
should reach the foot of it--far below this island.

All at once he turned tail and went down head first. I let the line fly
now, keeping my fingers well clear of it.

"He's off, Anders!" I shouted, as I took to my heels at full speed.

"Hurroo-hoo-oo!" yelled the Norseman, flying after me with the gaff.

How I managed to keep my footing in the rush over the broken dike I know
not. It is a marvel to me. The bushes on the island overhung the
water, the earth having been cut away by the force of the rapid. I
tried to pull up because they were too thick to crash through; but the
fish willed it otherwise. The line was getting low on the reel; the rod
bent double; presently I had to straighten it out--in another moment I
was in the water over the boots, which filled of course in a moment.
But this did not impede me as long as I was in deep water.

I was forsaken at this point by Anders, who sought and found a safe
passage to the mainland, where he stood gazing at me with his eyes
blazing and his mouth wide open.

I soon reached the end of the island, to my horror, for I had not
previously taken particular note of the formation of the land there. A
gulf of water of five or six yards broad of unknown depth lay between me
and that shore, by which in the natural course of things I should have
followed my fish as far as he chose. The rapid itself looked less
tremendous than thi