And then he went on, and told us how he had taken him half an hour to catch it. He said he had weighed it carefully when he reached home, and it had weighed thirty-four pounds.
Then he left and the landlord came in to us. We told him the various stories we had heard about this trout, and he was immensely amused, and we all laughed.
"Fancy Jim Bates and Joe Muggles and Mr Jones and old billy Maunders all telling you that they had caught it. Ah! ah! ah! Well, that is good," said the honest fellow, laughing heartily. "Yes, that is funny. Can you imagine them giving me their trout to hang up in my parlour! Ah! ah! ah!"
