THROWING THE LINE. 155 



to perfection evidently forgetting that you are 

 neither congeeing to a lady nor thrashing in a 

 barn. Now, I declare, you are just as bad the 

 other way bolt upright, and rigid as an Egyp- 

 tian mummy. You somewhat resemble a self- 

 acting pump, the handle of which to wit, your 

 arm performs its movements at intervals of a 

 minute or so. Properly, you should stand upright 

 to make a cast, and as your line descends upon 

 the water, bend yourself, gracefully, a little for- 

 ward. No : not to an angle of forty-five degrees 

 say fifteen. Now you are all right as to posi- 

 tion. * * * Crack! Ah! the knell of a de- 

 parted fly produced by your whip-like manage- 

 ment of the rod. That forward movement was 

 made too quickly you did not allow sufficient 

 time for the line to unfold itself behind you, and 

 the loss of your front fly (I beg pardon, stretcher,} 

 is the consequence. But on with another, and 

 try again ; and again ; you improve every time. 

 By Jupiter ! another fly gone. Never mind, you 

 must expect such casualties. I lost a dozen on 

 my debut-day, so, as a punishment for my extra- 

 vagance, I was kept flyless for a week, and I 

 learned to throw with the bare line not a bad 

 plan, perhaps, for you to adopt. But on, on 



