Part 6 (2/2)
himself. Do ye mind the game the wee yins play, of noughts and crosses? Whoever draws three noughts or three crosses in a line wins, and sometimes it's for lettin' the other have last crack that ye lose.
Weel, it was like a child who sees he's beaten himself in that game that Mac looked then.
”How big was mine, Mac?” I said. ”Oh, no so big. Ye'd no be interested to know, I'm thinking.”
”But I am,” said Mac. ”I always like to hear of the luck other fishermen ha' had.”
”Aweel, yell be makin' me tell ye, I suppose,” I said, as if verra reluctantly. ”But--oh, no, Mac, dinna mak' me. I'm no wantin' to hurt yer feelings.”
He laughed.
”Tell me, man,” he said.
”Weel, then--twa thousand six hundred and fourteen pounds,” I said.
Mac nearly fell oot o' the boat into the loch. He stared at me wi' een like saucers.
”What sort of a fish was that, ye muckle a.s.s?” he roared.
”Oh, just a bit whale,” I said, modestly. ”Nowt to boast aboot. He gied me a battle, I'll admit, but he had nae chance frae the first----”
And then we both collapsed and began to roar wi' laughter. And we agreed that we'd tell no fish stories to one another after that, but only to others, and that we'd always mak' the other fellow tell the size of his fish before we gave the weighing of ours. That's the only safe rule for a fisherman who's telling of his catch, and there's a tip for ye if ye like.
Still and a' we caught us no fish, and whiles we talked we'd stopped rowing, until the boat drifted into the weeds and long gra.s.s that filled one end of the loch. We were caught as fine as ye please, and when we tried to push her free we lost an oar. Noo, we could not row hame wi'oot that oar, so I reached oot wi' my rod and tried to pull it in. I had nae sort of luck there, either, and broke the rod and fell head first into the loch as well!
It was no sae deep, but the gra.s.s and the weeds were verra thick, and they closed aboot me the way the arms of an octopus mich and it was scary work gettin' free. When I did my head and shoulders showed above the water, and that was all.
”Save me, Mac!” I cried, half in jest, half in earnest. But Mac couldna help me. The boat had got a strong push from me when I went over, and was ten or twelve feet awa'. Mac was tryin' to do all he could, but ye canna do muckle wi' a flat bottomed boat when ye're but the ane oar, and he gied up at last. Then he laughed.
”Man, Harry, but ye're a comical sicht!” he said. ”Ye should appear so and write a song to go wi' yer looks! Noo, ye'll not droon, an', as ye're so wet already, why don't ye wade ower and get the oar while ye're there?”
He was richt, heartless though I thought him. So I waded over to where the oar rested on the surface of the water, as if it were grinning at me. It was tricksy work. I didna ken hoo deep the loch micht grow to be suddenly; sometimes there are deep holes in such places, that ye walk into when ye're the least expecting to find one.
I was glad enough when I got back to the boat wi' the oar. I started to climb in.
”Gie's the oar first,” said Mac, cynically. ”Ye micht fall in again, Harry, and I'll just be makin' siccar that ane of us twa gets hame the nicht!”
But I didna fall in again, and, verra wet and chilly, I was glad to do the rowing for a bit. We did no more fis.h.i.+ng that day, and Mac laughed at me a good deal. But on the way hame we pa.s.sed a field where some boys were playing football, and the ball came along, unbenknownst to either of us, and struck Mac on the nose. It set it to bleeding, and Mac lost his temper completely and gave chase, with the blood running down and covering his s.h.i.+rt.
It was my turn to laugh at him, and yell ken that I took full advantage o't! Mac ran fast, and he caught one of the youngsters who had kicked the ball at him and cuffed his ear. That came near to makin' trouble, too, for the boy's father came round and threatened to have Mac arrested. But a free seat for the show made him a friend instead of a foe.
Speakin' o' arrests, the wonder is to me that Mac and I ever stayed oot o' jail. Dear knows we had escapades enough that micht ha' landed us in the lock up! There was a time, soon after the day we went fis.h.i.+ng, when we made friends wi' some folk who lived in a capital house with a big fruit garden attached to it. They let us lodgings, though it was not their habit to do so, and we were verra pleased wi'
ourselves.
We sat in the suns.h.i.+ne in our room, having our tea. Ootside the birds were singing in the trees, and the air came in gently.
”Oh, it's good to be alive!” said Mac.
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