SPECKLED TROUT. 



THE legend of the wary trout, hinted at in the last 

 sketch, is to be further illustrated in this and some 

 following chapters. We shall get at more of the 

 meaning of those dark water-lines, and I hope, also, 

 not entirely miss the significance of the gold and sil- 

 ver spots and the glancing iridescent hues. The 

 trout is dark and obscure above, but behind this foil 

 there are wondrous tints that reward the believing 

 eye. Those who seek him in his wild remote haunts 

 are quite sure to get the full force of the sombre and 

 uninviting aspects, the wet, the cold, the toil, the 

 broken rest', and the huge, savage, uncompromising 

 nature, etc., but the true angler sees farther than 

 these, and is never thwarted of his legitimate reward 

 by them. 



I have been a seeker of trout from my boyhood, 

 and on all the expeditions in which this fish has been 

 the ostensible purpose I have brought home more 

 game than my creel showed. In fact, in my mature 

 years I find I got more of nature into me, more of 



