wn reel was singing, and I knew by the power and savage rushes
that I had something unusual at the other end.

"Trout as big as your leg!" we called across to each other, and if they
were not really as big as that, they were, at all events, bigger than
anything so far taken--as big as one's arm perhaps--one's forearm, at
least, from the hollow of the elbow to the fingertips. You see how
impossible it is to tell the truth about a trout the first time. I never
knew a fisherman who could do it. There is something about a fish that
does not affiliate with fact. Even at the market I have known a fish to
weigh more than he did when I got him home. We considered the
imaginative Indian justified, and blessed him accordingly.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Pronounced To-be-at-ic

Chapter Twenty

_You may slip away from a faithful friend_
_And thrive for an hour or two,_
_But you'd better be fair, and you'd better be square,_
_Or something will happen to you._

Chapter Twenty

We took seventeen of those big fellows before we landed, enough in all
conscience. A point just back of the water looked inviting as a place to
pitch the tents, and we decided to land, for we were tired. Yet curious
are the ways of fishermen: having had already too much, one becomes
greedy for still more. There was an old dam just above, unused for a
generation perhaps, and a long, rotting sluiceway through which poured a
torrent of water. It seemed just the place for the king of trouts, and I
made up my mind to try it now before Eddie had a chance. You shall see
how I was punished.

I crept away when his back was turned, taking his best and
longest-handled landing net (it may be remembered I had lost mine), for
it would be a deep dip down into the sluice. The logs around the
premises were old and crumbly and I had to pick my way with care to
reach a spot from which it would be safe to handle a big trout. I knew
he was there. I never had a stronger conviction in my life. The
projecting ends of some logs which I chose for a seat seemed fairly
permanent and I made my preparations with care. I put on a new leader
and two large new flies. Then I rested the net in a handy place, took a
look behind me and sent the cast down the greased lightning current that
was tearing through the sluice.

I expected results, but nothing quite so sudden. Neither did I know that
whales ever came so far up into fresh-water streams. I know it was a
whale,