144 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



fly-fishers, who, after a day in pursuit of trout or 

 grayling, at night gather in " slippered ease " in 

 the smoking room of the inn, fighting the day's 

 battles over again, or prophesying good things for 

 the morrow. In this company I am at home. 



It is the business of the host and his spouse 

 to make their guests comfortable, and for the most 

 part they succeed. The born landlord and land- 

 lady somehow manage to convey to each man a 

 satisfying feeling that he is a specially welcome 

 visitor under their roof. The guest who always 

 feels happy as he enters his favourite inn may 

 perhaps find a personal application of the 

 camaraderie which breathes through the lines of 

 the old toast 



" Come in the evening, or come in the morning 

 Come when you're looked for, or come without warning. 

 A thousand welcomes you'll find here before you, 

 And the ottener you come here the more we'll adore you ! "' 



Angler-guests, in their whole-time capacity as 

 anglers, are as a fact warmly welcome at the hotel. 

 Often this is so for their own sakes and person- 

 alities, but I have not been able to resist a suspicion 

 that part of their popularity is due to the 

 fact that they are generally out all day ! Once 

 this was charmingly confirmed. One morning, 

 after the usual large packets of sandwiches in their 

 crinkly paper had been made up and duly appro- 

 priated, and all the anglers were supposed to have 

 departed to the waterside and in fact by now to 

 be busy at it, one angler, having forgotten some- 

 thing or other, returned to the hotel. He met 



