THE COOKERY OF THE TROUT 259 



a novelty, he jumped at the offer. He followed his 

 sulky guide in the dark by the dim light of a lantern. 

 The man stripped to the waist ; plunged into the 

 glacier- water with lantern and sharpened hook, and as 

 the trout circled up to the light, like moths fluttering 

 to a candle, the deadly stroke was dealt. The 'pauvre 

 diablej resigned to his fate, had no illusion as to his 

 end : as the last hunter from the inn had broken his 

 neck when after chamois, so he, like his fishing prede- 

 cessor, was sure to die of an inflammation. Naturally, 

 Maurice held the trout in no favour. * It's not only 

 you that are fond of them' he said bitterly, when 

 Dumas entreated him to go back to his blankets. ' I 

 cannot conceive how it is, but all the travellers like 

 the trout, a nasty brute skinful of bones.' Another 

 illustrious French tourist who followed Dumas, agreed 

 with Maurice, though through sheer cross-grainedness. 

 There is no more piquant scene in the memorable 

 Swiss tour of About's Captain Bitterlin than where 

 the Captain calls the unlucky waiter on the Rigi 

 across the coals, when his perversities chanced to 

 culminate and the everlasting trout were the pretext. 

 ' Est-ce que vous vous moquez de moi ? You gave 

 me trout yesterday morning at the hotel in Basle, 

 and I ate them. Last night at Olten, still more 

 trout, and I said nothing. This morning at Lucerne 



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