It was a beautiful cast, if the boys had but known it, and the flies alighted in a spot of dark water almost under the bank, where a little eddy made a faint ripple on the surface.
"SOMETHING BRIGHT AND VIGOROUS SPRANG CLEAR OUT OF THE WATER."
Splash! Something bright and vigorous sprang clear out of the water!
"Struck! I'll get him. Steady, Quill; don't pull a stroke. He's a heavy one this time. I must give him all the line he wants. He's off up stream."
How that reel did buzz, and how the excited boys did watch the motions of their new acquaintance!
"He'll run all the way to Pawg," said Mort.
"Not with that hook in him," said Quill. "See! he's a-winding him up again."
The reel was a "multiplier," and the line came in swiftly enough, for the fisherman had "snubbed" his victim, and turned him toward the boat. Out and in, again and again, went the line, but at last the boys had seen the prize, and knew it was a bigger speckled trout than they supposed Taponican contained.
"Here he comes! Now for the net!"