Nic jumped again, for once more the man had approached in silence.
“Eh! what have you got?”
“Locusts, or grasshoppers, sir. Have you a nice-sized new hook?”
“Oh yes, plenty,” cried Nic eagerly, opening a flat box from which the man took one he thought suitable.
The next minute the hook bearing the great worm had been removed and one good-sized shot only left on the line.
“Now,—sir,” said Leather, “these grasshoppers are tender, so drop the bait gently on the surface, right over yonder where the stream comes round that end of the tree root.—Well done. Couldn’t be better. Now be on the look-out, sir.”
The running water carried the great insect several feet into the still water before the weight of the shot began to act. Then very slowly it was drawn down beneath the surface, and they saw it descend and disappear in the obscurity, the line being slowly drawn after it.
“They won’t take that ugly, crooked-legged thing,” said Nic. “Why, it would choke any fish that ever breathed.”
“Watch,” said Leather quietly. “It takes some time to sink, for you have only one shot on; but it looks more natural, and it has not yet reached the fish. I think I’d draw in my slack line now, sir, and be ready to strike gently.”
“No good,” said Nic, who, however, took the advice.