128 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



judicial tone. You already begin to feel you 

 will be taken forth from that place to be hanged 

 by the neck until there is no more question of 

 licence or anything else. 



Then the worthy man, expounding in words 

 with which he has long been familiar, goes on : 

 "This here river comes within the jurisdiction of 



the Board of Conservators, and before you 



can fish in this here river you must take out a 

 licence to fish in it." Now, if you are a wise 

 man, you will already have taken out the 

 necessary licence, and done all things lawful. If 

 you have by ignorance, or whatsoever the reason, 

 omitted so to do you will, without waste of 

 words, ask his worship if he has a book of licences 

 on him, and if so will he of his kindness sell you 

 one on the spot ? As you scan him hopefully, 

 you will notice that maybe he has grown grey in 

 the service, that he wears hand-sewn boots, with 

 smart leggings, not to speak of a jay's feather in 

 his hat, token of an intimacy with outdoor 

 life. Seeing what kind of man he is, it can do 

 no harm to add that you are sorry for the trouble 

 you have caused him, and would he kindly 

 convey personally to the Chairman of his Board 

 of Conservators an expression of your regret that 

 you have unwittingly offended. Sometimes a 

 water-bailiff, for convenience in remote rural 

 districts, is empowered to sell the fishing licence. 

 Clearly, it ought always to be taken out before 

 you fish. But if by mis-chance this has not been 

 done, and if the water-bailiff is empowered to sell 



