Fisherman's luck and some other uncertain things . he wasmaking his way over the hill, through the under-brush, around the cliff. Again and again thefish ran out my line almost to the last turn. Adozen times he leaped from the water, shak-ing his silvery sides. Twice he tried to cut theleader across a sunken ledge. But at last hewas played out, and came in quietly towardsthe point of the rock. At the same momentFerdinand appeared with the net. Now, the use of the net is really the most dif-ficult part of angling. And Ferdinand is thebest netsman in the Lake St. John country. Henever makes the
Fisherman's luck and some other uncertain things . he wasmaking his way over the hill, through the under-brush, around the cliff. Again and again thefish ran out my line almost to the last turn. Adozen times he leaped from the water, shak-ing his silvery sides. Twice he tried to cut theleader across a sunken ledge. But at last hewas played out, and came in quietly towardsthe point of the rock. At the same momentFerdinand appeared with the net. Now, the use of the net is really the most dif-ficult part of angling. And Ferdinand is thebest netsman in the Lake St. John country. Henever makes the mistake of trying to scoop afish in motion. He does not grope around withaimless, futile strokes as if he were feeling forsomething in the dark. He does not entanglethe dropper-fly in the net and tear the tail-flyout of the fishs mouth. He does not getexcited. He quietly sinks the net in the water, and waits until he can see the fish distinctly, lying perfectly still and within reach. Then he makes a swift movement, like that of a mower swing- 44. The situation was not without its embarrassments. THE THRILLING MOMENT ing the scythe, takes the fish into the net head-first, and lands him without a slip. I felt sure that Ferdinand was going to dothe trick in precisely this way with my ouana-niche. Just at the right instant he made onequick, steady swing of the arms, and — the headof the net broke clean oft the handle and wentfloating away with the fish in it! All seemed to be lost. But Ferdinand wasequal to the occasion. He seized a long, crookedstick that lay in a pile of driftwood on the shore,sprang into the water up to his waist, caughtthe net as it drifted past, and dragged it toland, with the ultimate ouananiche, the prize ofthe season, stiU glittering through its meshes. This is the story of my most thrilling momentas an angler. But which was the moment of the deepestthriU? Was it when the huckleberry bush saved mefrom a watery grave, or when the log rolledunder my feet a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1901
