igS DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



In the drawing-room, or, perhaps, I should rather 

 say, the assembhng-room, our host was at his best, 

 and if the days had been all evenings, he would have 

 had no trouble in entertaining guests. There appeared 

 to be no subject on which he could not have talked 

 the longest sitting through, and his tales of dare-devil 

 nights in caves v,dth seals were most thrilling, especially 

 to the ladies. Given rain each day or night, Mr Sheridan 

 would prove an ideal host to fiy-fishers, but when 

 nights and days have followed each other for a length- 

 ened period without a drop of it, even nights with 

 seals tail off a bit. So I think our host was glad of 

 a cue, and that evening the subject was changed first 

 to pollack and then to a monster conger which so 

 filled a boat that the fisherman preferred to swim and 

 push the boat to shore; of skate whose size and weight 

 needed many men to move them; of hng and cod 

 hauled in on lines with lOO hooks, a prize on each; 

 and of such other wondrous doings that I could but 

 think, as the ladies did, very much of Mr 

 Sheridan. 



September mornings have a freshness all their 

 own, and as they come just when man most needs 

 them, they are often welcomed by deep-drawn breaths 

 that give back thankful sighs. 



The next day t:ommenced with a glorious morning. 

 There was a thin curtain of the night's mist still 

 remaining when I stepped into the road to read the 

 promises for the day, but it was already coloured by 

 the rising sun. There was a breeze that made waves 

 on the shore below and brought with it a salty flavour, 

 and I was busy breathing like a grampus when a hand 

 came upon my shoulder and a face peered round to 

 mine to see what ailed me. 



Harry has unbounded faith in my knowledge of 

 matters piscatorial, and had felt no fear for his line 

 when playing his seventeen-pounder on the previous 

 day; but I had had some misgivings, for I had used 



