110 BY HOOK AND BY CBOOK. 



and baited the hook with as enticing a worm as ever 

 hailed from the town of pretty lace and ladies ; then 

 there only remained to place it before the fish^ which 

 was no easy matter, as although we ourselves were out 

 of sight, they would not stand the rod, but retired 

 into mid-stream whenever it appeared. 



A happy thought struck us, so when the next passing 

 object caused their retirement to the depths, we, in 

 their absence, projected the other rod without line 

 over the bank ; and although a bit suspicious at first, we 

 were delighted to find that they soon became accus- 

 tomed to it, resuming their usual positions. 



Things now remained for a bit in statu quo, and wc 

 could not advance matters, until a passing boat scared 

 the trout away for a while, giving us the opportunity 

 to substitute the rod with baited line in place of the 

 bare rod. This we did, making the bait to fall about 

 a foot in front of the spot to which they were soon 

 to return, and as it fell the disturbance caused in 

 the water washed the sand up so as to conceal the 

 worm. 



We next pulled a few yards of line off the reel and 

 took up our positions well behind the fishes' haunt, 

 and had not long to wait before they returned. 



After a while we put the slightest tension on the 

 line, which had the desired effect of discovering the 

 worm, which at the most opportune moment gave a 

 wag of his head or tail, whichever it may have been (to 

 the uninitiated there is a considerable resemblance in 



