VII A BASKET ON ALL FOOLS' ^ ^ 



THE Doctor, who had been there before, warned 

 me that we must expect wind, for the Flood 

 flows down a wide valley between high hills, which 

 form a natural funnel for all the airs that blow, 

 collecting them from all quarters of the compass and 

 despatching them either up stream or down, as the 

 case may be. Notwithstanding this, the Flood holds 

 good trout, and yields of them, too, if a man can over- 

 come the wind and a few other difficulties. The Doctor 

 had drawn a picture of the river very tempting to one 

 hungry for a little spring trouting so tempting, indeed, 

 that Friday night saw us embarked on our long journey, 

 and hopeful of an early breakfast and fishing before we 

 were twelve hours older. The Flood is a river of 

 mountain birth, and subject to such rapid increase 

 that it deserves the pseudonym which I have given to 

 it. Therefore it was somewhat disquieting, ere we had 

 left London an hour, to find that it had begun to rain 

 once more, and depressing to realize later on that the 

 farther we journeyed, the harder the rain was coming 

 down. The Doctor opined gloomily that the river 

 would not fish that day, but in the course of his fore- 

 bodings let me understand that even so all was not 



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