THE DUFFER'S FORTNIGHT 223 



again, pointed out the exact spot where he had just 

 lost a four-poundcr. The fly must have appeared 

 the moment it caught sight of my departing form, 

 and the Fourth Angler cannot have been long behind 

 it. But the take, such as it was, was over by the 

 time I got back, and I saw no more big fish move. 

 My friend's big trout, by the way, was not one of 

 my original five, but a fish some little way below. 

 I knew about him in the morning, and had mentally 

 decided on him for the completion of my three 

 brace — he was a worthy fish. 



I will now pass hurriedly to the late evening and 

 the Fifth Angler, who was plodding philosophically 

 home. I had left the corner by then, and was wait- 

 ing about for sedges lower down. " I've only got 

 a brace," said the Fifth Angler, " but I had bad 

 luck. I lost three really good fish up at the top 

 under the bushes on my way down in the morning." 

 So there were the rest of my big ones duly accounted 

 for! 



The moral is that a corner may not be so quiet 

 as it seems, and that visible big fish are not always 

 as good as in the basket. 



