Tom came to the top , to look at this wonderful light nearer , and made a splash . And he heard a voice say : `` There was a fish rose . '' He did not know what the words meant : but he seemed to know the sound of them , and to know the voice which spoke them ; and he saw on the bank three great two-legged creatures , one of whom held the light , flaring and sputtering , and another a long pole . And he knew that they were men , and was frightened , and crept into a hole in the rock , from which he could see what went on . The man with the torch bent down over the water , and looked earnestly in ; and then he said : `` Tak ' that muckle fellow , lad ; he 's ower fifteen punds ; and haud your hand steady . '' Tom felt that there was some danger coming , and longed to warn the foolish salmon , who kept staring up at the light as if he was bewitched . But before he could make up his mind , down came the pole through the water ; there was a fearful splash and struggle , and Tom saw that the poor salmon was speared right through , and was lifted out of the water . And then , from behind , there sprang on these three men three other men ; and there were shouts , and blows , and words which Tom recollected to have heard before ; and he shuddered and turned sick at them now , for he felt somehow that they were strange , and ugly , and wrong , and horrible . And it all began to come back to him . They were men ; and they were fighting ; savage , desperate , up-and - down fighting , such as Tom had seen too many times before . And he stopped his little ears , and longed to swim away ; and was very glad that he was a water-baby , and had nothing to do any more with horrid dirty men , with foul clothes on their backs , and foul words on their lips ; but he dared not stir out of his hole : while the rock shook over his head with the trampling and struggling of the keepers and the poachers . All of a sudden there was a tremendous splash , and a frightful flash , and a hissing , and all was still . For into the water , close to Tom , fell one of the men ; he who held the light in his hand . Into the swift river he sank , and rolled over and over in the current . Tom heard the men above run along seemingly looking for him ; but he drifted down into the deep hole below , and there lay quite still , and they could not find him . Tom waited a long time , till all was quiet ; and then he peeped out , and saw the man lying . At last he screwed up his courage and swam down to him . `` Perhaps , '' he thought , `` the water has made him fall asleep , as it did me . '' Then he went nearer . He grew more and more curious , he could not tell why .
He must go and look XXXXX him .
as at before for from into on over that with