UP THE GLEN 153 



days when the very ripple speaks of motion ; and 

 the sense of motion begets heat. 



I seldom go abroad without my rod. It serves 

 as walking - stick or alpenstock, is convenient 

 for pushing aside the thorns, and is ever ready 

 to be turned to its legitimate use. I sit down 

 by the aider, and lazily fit in the pieces and 

 string through the line. The shadow is oppressive ; 

 the very heat seems to be taking refuge from 

 itself under the same bush. It rests upon one 

 with the weight of another garment. I wonder if 

 there is more air in the open. 



The bed is rocky ; the stones stand out like the 

 ribs of a lean man. The stream is broken into 

 many separate currents, which flow in attenuated 

 channels, and only gather here and there behind 

 the larger boulders into triangular mid - stream 

 pools. 



One such still place, more promising than the 

 rest, is well over to the other side. A cast may 

 bring something. 



Phew ! how hot it is ! And only a two-inch 

 trout, after all the trouble ! How he disappears 

 beneath the nearest stone on being returned to the 

 water, after his first visit to the upper air ! A 

 trout in a much-fished stream must have a lively 



