tant it fell on the water; but Bryan did not, as
heretofore, haul the fish violently out of its native element. It is
true he attempted to do so, but the attempt proved utterly futile;
moreover, the fish darted with such velocity and strength towards the
lake, that the angler, albeit entirely ignorant of his art, experienced
an inward conviction that the thick cord would snap altogether if not
eased of the enormous strain. He therefore followed the fish at the top
of his speed, uttering incomprehensible sounds of mingled rage and
amazement as he went, and tripping over rocks and bushes in his headlong
career. After a smart run of half a minute the fish stopped, turned,
and darted back so rapidly that Bryan tripped in turning and fell into
the water! The place was shallow, but having fallen on his back, he was
thoroughly drenched from head to foot. He did not lose the grasp of his
rod, however. Spluttering, and gasping, and dripping, he followed the
fish in its wild career until it turned again at a tangent, and darted
towards the bank on which he stood. There was a shelving bed of
pebbles, where the water shoaled very gradually. Bryan saw this.
Availing himself of the fish's impetus, and putting all his force to the
rod, he dragged it into two inches of water, when the line broke.
Instantly the fish struggled towards deep water; but it was so large,
and the place to which it had been dragged so shallow, that it afforded
the excited angler time to rush forward and throw himself bodily on the
top of it!

The battle that now ensued was of an energetic and deadly character on
the part of both man and fish. Those who have not grasped a live salmon
in their arms have no conception of the strength of a fish; and perhaps
it may be said with equal truth that those who have never wielded a
forehammer have but a faint conception of the strength of a blacksmith's
knuckles. Bryan had thrown his whole weight on the fish, and grasped
it, as with a vice, in both hands; but at every struggle of its powerful
frame he felt how uncertain was the hold he had of its slippery body.
Once it almost escaped, and dashed the spray over its adversary's face
with its tail, as it wriggled out of his grasp; but with a desperate
plunge Bryan seized it by the head and succeeded in thrusting his thumb
under its gill and choking it, while himself was well-nigh choked at the
same moment by unintentionally swallowing a gulp of the muddy compound
w