“Their fishing, dear, would be the mere use of a net. But there is another point of view. We leave more money on these rivers, are of more real use to these boatmen and farmers, than all the salmon they might take could possibly be.”
“How difficult all life seems! There are so many questions.”
“Fish, my dear, in peace of soul. By Thor, you have a grilse!” he cried. For now she was fast to a fish of some six pounds, which was in and out of water every minute, and, being too small to gaff, was beached by a quick run up a sandy shore of the well-drenched fisherwoman. While Tom was weighing the fish, Rose learned that a grilse was a young salmon, and what a parr was, and a smolt, and a kelt, and how a grilse was known by the forked tail and the small scales.
“A good un to smoke,” said Tom. “We split ’em, miss, and salt ’em pretty well, and then hold ’em open like with two sticks, and hangs ’em over a right smoky fire for a matter of four or five days. Some makes a wigwam of bark and smokes ’em in that, but it ain’t needed unless you want ’em to keep long. Them they sells is all dried stiff and hard. These here, just dried gentle, why they’re as fine-flavored as—as—angels, or a chicken porkenpine.”
“A smoked angel!” laughed Rose. “I am horribly wet, but I must kill another salmon.” Her hope was realized, and, after an hour of hard casting, a twenty-pound fish was brought to gaff in some twelve minutes.
“Very good time, Rosy. I used to think no man ought to be over a half-hour in killing the strongest salmon. But the charm of the game lies in the amazing individuality of the fish. No one of them ever does just what any other does. Once I was two hours with a salmon, and you may have the like luck.”
“I should perish of fatigue.”
“What would you think of killing ninety-two and six grilse in five days? I once killed forty-two striped bass in twenty-four hours, but these are bonanzas. Run the boat up and empty her,” he added to Tom. As they stood, the rain continued falling more and more heavily through a perfectly still atmosphere.
“Kind of falls,” said Tom.
“Did it ever rain harder?” said Rose.