XXIX THE ANGLER AND THE BRIDGE o 



PRESUMABLY every angler now and then sits 

 down and meditates on the pleasures that have 

 been his in the past, and, if the fates are kind, are to 

 be his in the future ; such meditation is just as much a 

 part of the pastime as is the act of buying a new rod 

 or tying a fly, though, indeed, it may be a result of 

 either action, and often is. In this meditation the angler 

 begins by constructing a mental image of some sheet 

 of water by which his steps have led him aforetime. 

 There it is in its perfection sparkling ripple and still 

 pool ; trailing weed or jagged rock ; thundering weir 

 or sluggish backwater; a river, perhaps of the north, 

 perhaps of the south, but always perfect after its kind, 

 and always full of great fish. Rivers vary, of course, 

 as do anglers, but they have at least one feature in 

 common their abiding charm for those who know 

 them ; in this, too, it is legitimate to hope, anglers and 

 other " very honest men" are not without resemblance 

 to them. 



There is one other feature which is surely common 

 to all mental pictures of all but the most primitive 

 rivulets the bridge. Can any angler lay his hand on 

 his heart and say that his mental river is bridgeless ? 



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