XXI A DAY ON CHALKLEY'S & & & 



r I ^HE young workman was enthusiastic and very 

 A ready to help, and, on the principle that a man 

 who lives in a land of streams should naturally know 

 how to net a fish, the net was detached from its ring, 

 opened, and delivered over. But repentance followed 

 immediately, as the son of toil jabbed fiercely at the 

 slender thread of gut connecting angler and trout. It 

 was plain that locale of habitation did not in itself 

 imply dexterity of hand. Fortunately the fish, resent- 

 ing the well-meant interference, had bolted out into 

 midstream again ; the net was kindly but firmly taken 

 from the unskilful one, and in a few moments a trout 

 of one pound five ounces was on the bank, and being 

 regarded not without gratification. "This last month," 

 said the workman, " I have gone up and down here to 

 my dinner every day, and never seen anybody catch 

 anything before." To which the angler replied, with 

 some solemnity : " And that one took an hour and a 

 half to catch." But the significance of this was lost on 

 the workman, sympathetic though he was ; the beauty 

 of a change of fly evidently did not appeal to him, and, 

 moreover, it was after 2 p.m., and he was late for his 

 work. 



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