1 84 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



despondency. I was all alertness and keenly alive to the 

 necessity of calm behaviour and cool action. Oh ! the excite- 

 ment of such a moment ! The fears, the hopes, the thousand 

 tremors that make each moment appear an age ! Would my 

 slender rod bear the strain ? Would the fish reach the rapids 

 beyond, or perhaps dive under the bridge and break my line ? 

 What if, after all, I should lose it ! It is so difficult in such 

 cases to convince your absent friends of the great size of the 

 lost fish. Oh ! joy ! The trout at last shows signs of 

 exhaustion. Now is the time to be cautious. At last I could 

 sing victory ! For the glorious creature was lying on the grass 

 at my feet, while I stood gazing with rapture on the very best 

 fish ever taken from the Stour with a fly. I make this state- 

 ment in the full assurance that there is not a single member of 

 the association who will venture to contradict me." 



