to and fro a moment, then slid on
again towards the still black stretch behind the stone, tightened there
suddenly, and ran, tense and straight, upstream again, while the reel
clacked and rattled.

"A big one," said Alton quietly. "Check the winch a little, and keep
the butt down. He can't face the rapid, and you'll lose him unless you
can keep a strain on when he turns again."

The girl flung herself backwards, with eyes dilated and a warmth in her
cheeks, the rod bending above her, and the line ripping its way towards
the welter at the head of the pool. There it curved inwards a trifle,
and Alton shouted, "Reel!"

There was a quick rattle, something broke the water with a silvery
flash, and the line was shooting downstream again.

"Let him go, unless he makes for the fir yonder," said Alton quietly.

For the space of several minutes the line swept up and down the pool,
and Miss Deringham watched it almost breathlessly with fingers on the
reel. Then it swept straight towards the fallen fir.

"Stop him!" said Alton. "It's a good trace. Keep the butt down."

The rod bent further, a big silvery body rushed clear of the water and
went down again, while next moment the line stopped and quivered as it
rasped against the fallen fir. Miss Deringham turned to her companion
with a gesture of consternation.

"Oh!" she said breathlessly. "It has gone."

"I don't know," said Alton, "That trace is a good deal thicker than
what you use in England. I'll see if I can get him. Keep your thumb
on the reel."

He took up a net, and clambering along the ledge sprang lightly upon
the log. It was sharply rounded, the bark was wet, and the way along
it obstructed by the stake-like ends of torn-off limbs, but the man
crawled forward foot by foot with the swift whirl of current close
beneath him. Then he knelt where the tree dipped almost level with the
flood, and grasping the line with one hand swept the net in and out
amidst the broken-off branches, while the girl watching him fancied she
could see a bright flash between the splashes. Presently he rose again
shaking his head, with nothing in the net.

"Give me a yard or two when I shout," he said.

Grasping a branch with one hand he lay down on the log, and lowered
himself until arm and shoulder were in the river. Then he sank still
further until his head was under too, and the girl shivered a little.
It seemed to her that it would be difficult for even a good swimm