s conclusion respecting
Captain Armytage. 'Such men as he hae nae mair business settlin' in
the bush than he wad hae in tryin' the life o' a fish. A mon may come
without land, or money, or freends, an I'll warrant him to get on; but
there's ane thing he must hae, the willingness to work hard. That will
bring him the lands, and money, and freends, as plenty as blackberries.
Sae far as I can see, your gentlefolk dinna do weel in the bush; they're
ower proud to tak' to the axe and the hoe as they ought, an' they hae
maistly fine habits o' life that mak' them unhappy. I wad like to see
the captain or his son cobblin' their ain shoon! Though I'm tauld the
young fellow's greatly improved sin' his hurt; but that winna mak' him
handier.'

'He is much more industrious,' said Robert, 'and I hope will be able to
pull up affairs on the farm, even yet.'

'Na, sir, na! Zack Bunting's got his claw on it in the shape of a
mortgage already. That farm o' his below the "Corner" he grasped in
just the same way; put the owner in debt to the store, foreclosed the
mortgage, and ruined the puir man. I ken he has his eye on Daisy Burn
for Nim, ever sin' he saw the captain. And that Yankee cam' here,
Maister Robert, without as much as a red cent aboon the pack on his
back!'

Just then Arthur and George came in sight round the lee of a small
island, paddling swiftly along.

'Trolling for black bass and maskelonge,' remarked Robert. 'There! he
has a bite.'

Arthur's line, some seventy or eighty feet long, was attached to his
left arm as he paddled, which gave a most tempting tremulousness to the
bait--a mock-mouse of squirrel fur; and a great pike-fish, lying deep in
the clear water, beheld it and was captivated. Slowly he moved towards
the charmer, which vibrated three or four feet beneath the surface;
he saw not the treacherous line, the hook beneath the fur; his heavily
under-jawed mouth (whence he obtained the name of masque-longue,
misspelled continually in a variety of ways by his Canadian captors),
his tremendous teeth, closed voraciously on the temptation. Arthur's
arm received a sudden violent jerk from the whole force of a lively
twenty-five pound maskelonge; a struggle began, to be ended successfully
for the human party by the aid of the gaff-hook.

This was the noblest prey of the pond. Pickerel of six or seven pounds
were common; and a profusion of black bass-spotted trout in all the
creeks; sheep-heads and suckers _ad libitum