146 FISHING WITH THE FLY. 



trout with those things in Yosemite ! Everybody knows 

 that the Merced trout don't take the fly." The Doctor 

 went on to say, " that with a common string, such as 

 any grocer would use to tie up a package of tea, a good 

 strong hook, and a worm," he would catch in the same 

 time, more fish than could all the sportsmen of Califor- 

 nia, fishing with fancy flies. 



The Doctor, like most cynics, was somewhat giyen to 

 hyperbole. 



During the remainder of the journey into the valley, 

 Jack felt himself regarded as the victim of a mildhalu- 

 ci nation. 



The Doctor could sketch ; beetles were awaiting his 

 Reverence's microscope ; flirtation and frolic were dawn- 

 ing on Madge's horizon ; even the Judge and Judgess 

 could get rid of a stone or two avoirdupois if they tried ; 

 but poor Jack had come, it ajDpeared, to fish, and there 

 were no fish to catch, or at least to catch with a fly. 

 Such was the tradition, and so the Doctor had asserted, 

 and no one ever disputed the Doctor excepting Yang, 

 the Chinaman. 



Our friends had been revelling in the enchantments 

 of the valley a week ; had climbed the trails that crept 

 zig-zag up the dizzy heights ; had spent hours among 

 the soft mist and rainbows at the first landing of that 

 wonder of the world, the Yosemite Falls ; and still Jack 

 had not accomplished the cherished desire of his heart. 

 He had not the moral courage to take from its swad- 

 dling clothes his beloved rod (which the Doctor would 



