BROOK AND LAGOON 187 



tancy about meeting the owner of the boat and 

 hoped he was still fishing farther up stream. For- 

 tunately I had marked the place, and hastily dis- 

 embarking I tied the rope to a stump and made 

 good my escape. I'd like to have thanked the 

 man, but he might have been ungracious. It was 

 just as well, perhaps, to be grateful in silence, 

 thanking my stars that I did not meet an irate 

 angler waiting for his boat. 



