104 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



OR the shallowing edge to determine whether he 

 should leave the pool or not, and this gave me my 

 chance to get clear of the tops of a withy bush that 

 was an obstacle to my following him down. On he 

 went over the broadening shallows with the speed not 

 so much of a hurried beast as of one who hoped to 

 shake off his trouble on his arrival at the pool he was 

 bound for, but the shallowing water through which 

 he had to plough his way, often with tail half out of 

 water, as I held on him from a bank high above, proved 

 too much for him, and he came upon his side when close 

 to the deep, reedy spot he had struggled so hard to 

 reach. 



His lordship's factor, who stood talking with the 

 artist, appeared delighted at seeing the 'big beast,' 

 as he called it, taken from where only trout and 

 grayling were desired. 



That was a very successful day, for the editor 

 had several good fish and the artist nearly as 

 many, but my nineteen-pound fish proved to be the 

 hea\'ie5t. 



V.'e three once drove in a farmer's dog-cart to a 

 pretty stream \\dth instructions to put the horse up 

 in the workhouse stable, where it would be quite 

 at home, as the owner, being a guardian, often drove 

 it there. 



Fish were very plentiful, though small, and the 

 sport kept us so late by the riverside that when we 

 returned to the poorhouse it was a black mass, without 

 a guiding feature, in the pervading darkness, and we 

 were lost outside its surrounding fence until we heard 

 a voice on the other side which, in response to a request 

 for guidance, said, — 



'Another lost innocent ! can't find your v/ay, can't 

 you? Never been here or anywhere like it before, 

 I'll warrant. Would hke to enter by the front gate, 

 being your first visit, eh? Round you go and don't 

 lose yourself. Don't let me miss seeing your innocent 



