SALMON ANGLING IN IRELAND. 27 1 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



Expectation The Myrtle Grove In at the Death Ruined Cabin An 

 Impostor Down to Bunbeg Gweedore River, and how to get there 

 Mountain Lake Wo set out on a long Journey, but say nothing about it. 



October 20. 

 All night long the river sang a pleasant tune ; there was not much 

 light or shade in the performance certainly, for it was rather of the 

 street minstrelsy order, which begins fortissimo and tries crescendo ; 

 nevertheless it was charming to me, its sole auditor, and might 

 therefore be considered a great success. 



It was long before sleep visited my eyelids, and dawn was only 

 just stealing over the world when I awoke. The wind was still 

 gusty, freshening up with every shower ; huge masses of cloud drove 

 over the sky, leaving occasional bars of blue, and on the brown and 

 dripping moor sunshine and shade paved the earth with alternate 

 patches of umber and gold. In short, it was a fishing day ; nothing 

 was wanting ; clouds, wind, and water were just what they should 

 be ; they promised a rich harvest, and I longed to reap it. 



It was hardly nine when we walked out of the yard towards the 

 bridge, Willie lagging a few steps behind to fix some new device on 

 the casting line. So short was the distance that I was over the bank 

 impatiently waiting on the rocky incline slippery from the seepings 

 of the bog before he came up. 



At this point the Claddy, rushing through a smooth but deep 

 channel in the rock, formed a pool so tempting that for the life of 

 me I never could pass it without a trial. The lodge, however, did 

 not deserve my partiality, for, though I had often bestowed much 

 time and labour on it, the gains seldom repaid the trouble. On the 

 present occasion we fared no better than in former seasons, so we 

 moved rapidly down the water, making odd casts here and there, to 

 any point that might possibly hold a running fish, and soon came to 

 a spot known amongst our party as the " Myrtle Grove." 



