The Swan and Her Crew

by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER XXXIII.

  Water-hen Swallowed by Pike.--Casting Net.-- Trapping Water-hen for Bait.--A Monster Pike.

  Frank and Jimmy were punting through one of the reedy pools adjoiningthe broad, shooting wild-fowl, and had not been very successful, so theywere disposed to shoot coots and water-hens, as well as ducks. They sawa water-hen swimming across a small pool into which they had just pushedtheir way, and Jimmy raised his gun to fire at it, but before he couldpull the trigger there was an immense splash and swirl in the water, andthe water-hen disappeared down the jaws of an immense pike. The boysstared in amazement.

  "That fellow must have been forty pounds in weight at the least," saidFrank, as soon as he had recovered himself.

  "Let us row home at once and get our tackle, and fish for him."

  They rowed quickly back, and upon reaching the boat-house they foundthat Dick was there, and had just put the finishing touch to a castingnet which they had been occupied in making for some time.

  "Bravo! that is capital!" said Frank. "We can now catch some bait withit."

  Before casting the net into the water they practised some time with it,for it is very difficult to throw a casting-net properly. After a littlepractice the boys were able to throw the net so that it describedsomething like a circle on the ground, and then they took it to theshallow parts of the broad, and in a dozen throws they obtained aquantity of small roach and bream, as well as some large ones. Puttingsome of the roach into a bait-can, they rowed to the pool where the bigpike lay, and first of all tried him with a live bait. But the float wasundisturbed, save by the movements of the bait. Then they tried trollingwith a dead gorge-bait, then spinning, and then a spoon, but with thelike ill success.

  "I tell you what," said Frank, at length, "a big fish like that requiressomething out of the common to induce him to bite. Let us put a bigbream on, and try and tempt him by size." So they put a bream a pound anda half in weight on the gorge-hook, and worked the heavy bait up anddown every part of the pool, but still without success, and the autumnnight came on and put a stop to their fishing.

  "We must catch him somehow," said Frank.

  "Let us set trimmers for him," suggested Jimmy in despair.

  "No, no; we will catch him by fair means if we can."

  The big pike, the biggest which they had ever seen, occupied theirthoughts all that evening. As Frank was dressing the next morning ahappy thought occurred to him, and when he met his friends afterbreakfast he said,--

  "I have got an idea how we may catch that pike. You remember how he tookthe water-hen under? He decidedly prefers flesh to fish. What do you sayto catching a water-hen and baiting our hook with it?"

  "The very thing," said Jimmy.

  "But how are we to catch the water-hen?" asked Dick.

  "I don't quite know. We must get it alive, you see."

  They talked it over, but could not hit upon any plan of capturing onealive, so at luncheon-time they went to Bell, and asked him if he couldhelp them.

  "Well, sirs, the water-hens come to my back garden to feed with the hensand sparrows. If you could lay some sort of a trap for them like ariddle-trap for sparrows it would be an easy matter to entice one intoit."

  "The very thing," said Jimmy. "We will put the casting-net round awooden hoop and prop it up on a stick, and put bread-crumbs under it."

  So the casting-net was called into requisition, and a trap wasconstructed, and set in Bell's back yard, which was close to a dykeleading to the broad. The boys hid themselves in an outhouse, having along string fastened to the stick which supported the net at an angle offorty degrees. First the hens came under it and then the sparrows, andthe two began to eat up all the bread put there. At last a water-hen wasseen swimming across the dyke, and with slow and cautious steps creepingup the bank towards the net. Frank took the end of the string in hishand, and peeped cautiously through a chink in the door while theothers looked through a little window. The water-hen fed for some timeon the outskirts of the throng of hens and sparrows, and at lastventured within the circle of the net.

  "Now," said Dick.

  "No, wait until it is further under," said Jimmy.

  Frank waited until the bird was fairly under the net, and then pulledthe string. The trap descended upon three hens, half-a-dozen sparrows,and the water-hen.

  "Hurrah!" cried the boys, rushing out. It was a matter of somedifficulty to secure the bird they wanted from among the struggling massof hens and sparrows, but they did so at last without hurting any of theothers, and at once pinioned it by cutting off its wing feathers.

  The next morning as soon as it was light they rowed to the place wherethe big pike lay. Everything was very still and quiet, and shrouded in alight grey mist, as they pushed their way along a narrow channel to thepool. They had brought with them their strongest rod and their stoutestline, and they carefully tried every knot and fastening of their tacklebefore commencing to fish. The next most important thing was to bait thewater-hen or arm her with hooks properly. This was done by tying anumber of hooks lightly to her with thread, and ruffling the feathers soas to conceal them.

  "Poor thing," said Dick, as Frank took up the rod and swung her into thepool.

  By keeping a slight pull on the line the bird was induced to turn in theopposite direction, and to swim towards the middle of the pool.

  "Another minute or two will show if our plan is successful," said Frank,"and if not, the bird shall be let loose."

  "I don't feel much faith in it now," said Jimmy.

  When the bird reached the centre of the pool she dived.

  "Oh dear, I did not expect that," said Frank. "What shall we do now?"

  "She must come up again presently. The pool is twelve feet deep, and shecannot cling to the bottom."

  "I felt her give such a pull just now. She is struggling hard toescape," said Frank, who was still letting out line.

  Two or three minutes passed away, and still the bird did not make herappearance.

  "Pull in the line a bit, Frank."

  Frank did so, and said,--

  "She must be clinging to the bottom. I cannot move her," and he pulled alittle harder.

  "I say," he cried, "I felt such a sharp tug. I do believe the big pikehas got hold of her."

  "Nonsense!" said the others.

  "But it isn't nonsense," said Frank, and he held the rod bent so thatthey could see the top twitching violently.

  "It is the pike!" Frank exclaimed excitedly, and he immediately let theline run loose, so that the pike might have room to gorge his prey.

  "He must have seized the water-hen as she dived," said Dick.

  "Yes, and won't we give him plenty of time to gorge. I don't want tomiss him now we have got such a chance," said Frank.

  And in spite of their impatience they gave the pike half-an-hour toswallow the bird, and then, at the end of that time, there were sundrytwitchings of the point of the rod, and the line was taken out by jerksof a foot or two at a time.

  "He is moving about," said Jimmy. "It is time to strike."

  Frank raised his rod amid a hush of expectation. As the line tightenedhe struck lightly, and immediately the rod bent double with a mightyrush from the pike as he went straight across the little pool, which wasabout thirty yards in diameter. After this first rush the pike began toswim slowly about, keeping deep down and never showing himself. Roundand round and across the pool he swam, now resting for a few minuteslike a log, and from a twitching of the line apparently giving angryshakes of his head. Frank kept a steady, even strain upon him, and asthe space was so circumscribed there was no danger of a breakage by anysudden rush.

  This sort of thing went on for half-an-hour, the line slowly cuttingthrough the still, dark water; and Jimmy and Dick urged Frank to pullharder, and make the fish show himself. But Frank was too wise to giveway, and he still kept on in a steady, cautious fashion.

  "If we go on much longer we shall be late for Mr. Meredith," said Dick.

  "Never
mind," replied Frank, "he will forgive us on such an occasion asthis."

  "Here he comes," shouted Frank, as he wound in his line. The pike camerolling up to the surface a few yards from the boat, and they caughtsight of him. His proportions were gigantic, and his fierce eyes glaredsavagely at them. He gave a flounder on the top of the water, then sankdown again into the depths.

  "What a monster!"

  In a few minutes the pike came up again, and this time more on his side,and plainly much exhausted. Three times more did he thus rise and sinkagain, and each time he seemed more helpless. The fourth time heremained on the surface lying on his side. Dick got hold of the gaff andheld it in the water with outstretched arm, while Frank slowly drew theconquered giant towards it. Dick put the gaff under him and sharplydrove it into his side, and then Jimmy and he uniting their forces,hauled the pike into the punt, almost upsetting it in their eagerness,and then threw themselves on the fish to prevent it flopping out again.

  They rowed home in great triumph, and on weighing the pike it was foundto be 341/4 lbs. in weight, and the largest which had been caught inHickling Broad for many years. The time it took to land it from the timeit was struck was fifty-five minutes.