52 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



is likely to occur immediately on the heels of the mis- 

 fortune. A ver^" pious man, or the most philosophical 

 one, would be less likely to surprise himself if he 

 remained speechless for a while. Tim^e, at times of 

 trial, before speech is everything, for each and all of 

 us need some meditation before we can say an appro- 

 priate equivalent of : ' 'Tis better to have loved and 

 lost/ etc. 



The loss of that much-coveted fish was grievous 

 at the tim.c, but now it is a mere incident in a day 

 of pleasing memories. Then I felt that my greatest 

 hope of achievement for that day had gone, and it 

 was with sobered ambition I lit a morning pipe and 

 tried to third-: it would be almost as pleasing if I could 

 but get a smaller fish to show that such early rising 

 and desertion were warrantable. 



The smoky mist that had hung so long at the 

 tail of the pool cleared when the sun came on the 

 withy boughs, and uies, perhaps while using legs 

 to rub sleepy eyes, were falling, to the great delight 

 of bleak that made the steady flow of water there 

 look as if huge raindrops were pattering down. This 

 sight was bringing to my mind that the bleak were 

 giving great advertisement of their whereabouts 

 when they fluttered simultaneously on the surface to 

 fly in all directions from a fish that showed his tail 

 plainly. Now quickly for a bleak ! I have a steady 

 hand, but somehow I am thumbish now, and it is 

 a long time I take before I am ready to cast a fly to 

 get th^ live bleak I need to pay down to the spot. 

 At last I have a bait, a beauty of medium length, stout 

 and strong, and it is held tenderly by the hp hook while 

 a Hght triangle is falling back against its side, and so it 

 is going to the spot against its will drawn by the 

 current and a wee bit of cork. It went by the spot and 

 was drawn back without a sign of notice being taken, 

 but I did not cease my drawing; I rather hastened 

 *t to show that the bleak would escape him yet. 



