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 CHAPTER V. 



THE GALA AND THE LEADER. 



F all the waters in which the anglers of Edin- 

 burgh exercise their art, the Gala is that with 

 which they are most familiar. It can be 

 reached in an hour by railway, and trains three or 

 four times a-day afford the opportunity to visit its 

 banks. Accordingly, on almost every day of the fish- 

 ing season the citizens of Edinburgh seek their sport 

 in the vale of Gala, and on fast-days or other holi- 

 days the numbers of persons, rod in hand and creel on 

 back, that may be seen pouring down Waverley Bridge 

 from all quarters are something portentous. W. S.'s 

 from the New^ Town drive desperately up in cabs ; from 

 the Old Town, down these wonderful " closes " rush 

 dozens of every grade and station ; steady old hands 

 from Leith, most of them in the spirit trade, make their 

 appearance ; there are a couple of Sheriffs, a sprinkling 

 of editors and sub-editors of newspapers, probably a 

 Professor, undistinguishable from an ordinary mortal ; 

 — lots of medical students, the most easily recognisable 

 class of the genus homo — and there is every likelihood 

 that, regarding his fellow-craftsmen with curious eye, 

 and inwardly chuckling over the idea that by the 

 evening his ample basket will contain a weight about 

 equal to all the others put together, may be descried 

 the six-feet-two form of Mr. W. C. Stewart, the best 



