246 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



" Good morning ! I'm afraid I have been poaching. 

 But the fact is I forgot all about this side being private 

 property, and " 



" So I see ! " broke in the old fellow sarcastically. 

 " Wonderful how alluring that ' other side ' always is ! 



Ulterioris ripcs amor, eh ? I suppose that d d fellow 



Frazer at Lochend sent you up here ? " 



" He did," I replied. " But he warned me to keep to 

 the eastern side of the loch ; so you must blame me, not 

 him." 



" Humph ! " grunted my interlocutor. " Well, the sooner 

 you get out of this, the better I shall be pleased so off 

 you go at once ! Do you hear me, sir ? " he repeated 

 wrathfully, as I continued knotting my cast. " ' At once ' 

 I said!" 



The rough, commanding tones of the old gentleman's 

 voice so annoyed me, however, that I purposely lingered 

 over my preparations. Reeling up very deliberately, I 

 picked up the two or three trout that lay on the grass, 

 and, in spite of the snort of rage I heard, transferred 

 them coolly to my fishing-basket. After that I laid down 

 my rod, and turning my back on the irate owner of the 

 western shores of Lochan Dhu, took out my cigar-case, 

 selected one of my very last Indian cheroots, and lit it 

 slowly and methodically. Then I gathered up my tackle, 

 and, ignoring the old boy's presence, walked off round to 

 the opposite side of the loch, where I started getting out 

 my line again. 



The fish had ceased to take, however, and I kept moving 

 slowly down the boggy shore, casting now here now there 

 as I went, till unexpectedly I found myself fast in a 

 heavier fish than any I had hooked that day. I played 

 the trout to an end, floating belly upward ; but in en- 

 deavouring to half lift, half slide him to shore over a bed 

 of floating weeds, there was a little snap, a feeble splash, 

 and the rod straightened. 



