has an unobstructed sweep from three directions, and nothing is lacking in tent or larder to render our temporary resting place an angler's elysium. The early hours of our first day were full of forest music. An occasional bird whistled out his morning orisons. The murmur of the running water was pleasant to the ear, and the splash of the leaping salmon could be heard distinctly above the monotonous sough of the pines as they were waved to and fro by the balmy breath of the cloudless morning. What we knew of these pools rendered us impatient to test them, and much earlier than usual we were busy adjusting our rods and reels for the fray. To the curiosity which always accompanies the opportunity to cast in new waters was superadded the excitement caused by the salmon quadrille in full play within short pis tol range of the camp. Every leap seemed a challenge, and gave promise of grander sport than we had yet experienced. There was a good pool for each of us, and each proceeded in his own way to make the best use of his rare opportunity. The General had the first rise. All the signs indicated that he was fast to a fish of unusual weight. The initiatory rush and leap were prodigious, taking out nearly every foot of line and compelling a rapid forward movement of the canoe to prevent mischief. In a few moments the General was able to step out upon the pebbly beach, where he fancied he could the more successfully curb and capture his prey. For a while it looked as if he was about to demonstrate the soundness of his theory that a salmon fisher should always take to the beach where practicable, as soon as possible after he has hooked his fish. The tussle was severe and protracted. The fish was a stubborn brute, always doing just the very thing it was hoped he would not do-rushing and leaping and sulking in such eccentric and perverse ways as to keep his captor moving backward and forward like a wearied sentinel at his post. If the fish continued to thus turn upon his own tracks long enough, his capture, sooner or later, would be reasonably sure. But nothing is more uncertain than the movements of a hooked salmon, and those of us who had ceased fishing to witness the battle were not surprised when this lusty rascal made a dash down stream which soon brought the General to the end of his walk, and compelled him to take to his canoe to prevent the fish from making his escape; for you might as well try to hold a two-year old colt with a cotton thread as a rushing thirtypound salmon by a direct pull on an exhausted line. It is for this reason that I always stick to my canoe during such a contest. You are better able to fol |