214 A Scottish Trout Stream. 



Yes, truly, " drumlie and dark," as we have said ; 

 and what more finely expressive or symbolic of the 

 sudden change, sudden as the flash of shining swords 

 in dewy light, under which the flowers o' the forest 

 are a' wede away ! 



But such a storm, with the results that naturally 

 follow, brings the angler's opportunity. Most fre- 

 quently it is just after such a spate as this has 



somewhat subsided, when the waters lessen, but are 

 not yet wholly clear, that the fisherman finds his harvest. 

 The big fish are all astir then, eager to feed, and the 

 angler not seldom exults in the heavy "take." 



Then even small streams are swollen to rivers, and 

 the fall, which after a drought dwindles and dwindles 

 to little more than a white thread, becomes once again 

 a waterfall voice of hungry, hissing, rushing torrent, 

 which carries down with it no end of driftwood, 



