X PREFATORY NOTE 



tion, adopt these words of the great master, as 

 my apology for making a little book of these 

 very slight sketches of my three weeks' experi- 

 ences as an angler in Dove Dale. " If thou be 

 a severe, sour-complexioned man," or if thou 

 be "a grave and busy man," thou wilt not care 

 to read them ; but whether thou be grave or 

 busy, gentle or sour, if thou be an honest 

 angler, I will wish "the east wind may never 

 blow when thou'goest a-fishing." 



If thou, my critic, desirest to put thy hook 

 into me, do it, I pray thee, as though thou 

 lovest me remembering how thy master taught 

 thee to hook a live frag harm me as little as 

 thou canst, that I may live the longer. 



E. M. 



1884. 



