66 NATURE NEAR LONDON. 



He was, too, extremely wary. The slightest motion 

 was enough to send him instantly under the arch ; 

 his cover was but a foot distant, and a trout shoots 

 twelve inches in a fraction of time. 



The summer advanced, the hay was carted, and 

 the wheat ripened. Already here and there the 

 reapers had cut portions of the more forward corn. 

 As I sat from time to time under the aspen, within 

 hearing of the murmuring water, the thought did rise 

 occasionally that it was a pity to leave the trout there 

 till some one blundered into the knowledge of his 

 existence. 



There were ways and means by which he could be 

 withdrawn without any noise or publicity. But, then, 

 what would be the pleasure of securing him, the 

 fleeting pleasure of an hour, compared to the delight 

 of seeing him almost day by day ? I watched him for 

 many weeks, taking great precautions that no one 

 should observe how continually I looked over into the 

 water there. Sometimes after a glance I stood with 

 my back to the wall as if regarding an object on the 

 other side. If any one was following me, or appeared 

 likely to peer over the parapet, I carelessly struck the 

 top of the wall with my stick in such a manner that 

 it should project, an action sufficient to send the fish 

 under the arch. Or I raised my hat as if heated, and 

 swung it so that it should alarm him. 



If the coast was clear when I had looked at him 

 still I never left without sending him under the arch 

 in order to increase his alertness. It was a relief to 

 know that so many persons who went by wore tall 

 hats, a safeguard against their seeing anything, for if 



