"
"And how much," said James, "has he to pay for his food and for
his clothes?"
Her cheeks were bright and her teeth small, white and beautifully
even; and a woman's soul looked at Bryden out of her soft Irish
eyes. He was troubled and turned aside, and catching sight of a
frog looking at him out of a tuft of grass he said:--
"I have been looking for a frog to put upon my pike line."
The frog jumped right and left, and nearly escaped in some bushes,
but he caught it and returned with it in his hand.
"It is just the kind of frog a pike will like," he said. "Look at
its great white belly and its bright yellow back."
And without more ado he pushed the wire to which the hook was
fastened through the frog's fresh body, and dragging it through
the mouth he passed the hooks through the hind legs and tied the
line to the end of the wire.
"I think," said Margaret, "I must be looking after my cows; it's
time I got them home."
"Won't you come down to the lake while I set my line?"
She thought for a moment and said:--
"No, I'll see you from here."
He went down to the reedy tarn, and at his approach several snipe
got up, and they flew above his head uttering sharp cries. His
fishing-rod was a long hazel stick, and he threw the frog as far
as he could into the lake. In doing this he roused some wild
ducks; a mallard and two ducks got up, and they flew towards the
larger lake. Margaret watched them; they flew in a line with an
old castle; and they had not disappeared from view when Bryden
came towards her, and he and she drove the cows home together that
evening.
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