THE VICARAGE. 281 



fish he expected to catch " For you know, Papa," 

 she added, "you are always sanguine when we 

 want some/' The Vicar looked at her with the 

 utmost affection ; and while he patted her cheek, 

 replied " That, Lucy, depends on the way in 

 which you handle the landing net ; for you know 

 how many fish you have lost me by being a little 

 awkward." Lucy denied the charge, but pro- 

 mised to be very careful. The river was a short 

 mile from the vicarage, and was one of those 

 beautiful streams for which Devonshire is so cele- 

 brated. On each side were narrow strips of mea- 

 dows, on which patches of hawthorn might here 

 and there be seen, mixed with hollies and entan- 

 gled with honey-suckles. Above the meadows were 

 precipitous banks covered with wood, amongst 

 which the wild columbine was peculiarly distin- 

 guished. Sometimes a piece of rock peeped out 

 and was partly concealed by the knotty branches 

 of an oak, or the more elegant ramifications of an 

 ash, as they stretched their limbs across and broke 

 the formality of the scene. The river flowed 

 peacefully and calmly through the narrow verdant 

 meads, its course being here and there enlivened 

 by obstructions, either of rocky fragments or 

 shingly beds, over which it brawled and foamed in 

 wild confusion, and then resumed its silent way. 

 It was a spot which an angler would wish to visit. 



