ig8 AN OPEN CREEL 



In another pool I got a few small ones and some 

 unseasonable trout, but the end of the short day 

 convinced me that the dry fly is useless for the 

 Till. 



The next day was Sunday; the sun shone, hope 

 arose within me, and I said to the landlord, "To- 

 morrow I shall use the wet fly three wet flies, and 

 I shall put on waders long waders." Then it was 

 that I remembered the old rhyme, for he said, " You 

 must be careful how you wade in the Till." It 

 appeared that quicksands waited for the unwary, 

 which is why Till "droons twae," or rather it is 

 one of the reasons; others became clear to me later. 

 At the time quicksands seemed quite enough to induce 

 seriousness. Early on Monday came breakfast, and 

 with it a friend from Tweedside, of cheerful coun- 

 tenance, and well be-wadered as to his legs, " for, of 

 course," suggested he, " one must wade." " One must 

 wade," I admitted, "but one must be careful." I take 

 an unholy joy in recording that the word " quicksands " 

 produced in him a thoughtful silence akin to my own 

 of the day before, and, though we started with much 

 resolution, our walk to the river was principally en- 

 livened by discussion of places in which men sink 

 until they are no more seen, and by exchange of 

 recipes for getting out which seemed inadequate. 

 Fortunately, however, we neither of us had occasion 

 to test them. The river proved to be rather uneasy 

 wading, the bottom being mostly of very fine sand, 

 but I cannot honestly own that I came upon a patch 

 which was really quick, though there were one or two 

 hurried exits from soft places, mostly at the side of 



