236 WATERSIDE SKETCHES. 



there being no possibility of pulling ashore, and no cover 

 under the mountain, at whose lee-foot the boat lay partly 

 beached. Then the gale, quickly running down the chro- 

 matic scale of Boreas, whispered itself seaward. The sun at 

 last came out, not with the open and frank countenance of a 

 friend, but with the pallid cheeks of a conspirator. 



Now, or never, was the time to put off once more, and soon 

 the flies, five in number (as you may make them on this weed- 

 less water), were tripping lightly to and fro. Thirty minutes 

 of sun, even if feeble, and sport, even if in moderation, 

 are helps to endurance, and sets-off against a drenched skin. 

 In that space I had caught fifteen trout of a peculiar kind 

 very yellow, very thin for their length, very greedy after the 

 fly, very stupid when hooked, very slippery when handled. 

 If I add that the fish weighed three pounds gross weight, 

 there will be no injustice done as between man and trout. 



The last fish was being played when, as an effective finale, 

 a hailstorm burst. I had been too intent upon fishing to 

 notice it brewing overhead, but it speedily gave me a taste 

 of its quality. Of course the boat was the farthest possible 

 point from land ; of course I was the longest possible time 

 in hauling in the granitic contrivance ; of course the wind 

 mastered the oars ; of course everything went wrong. The 

 discharge of the Storm-King's extra-sized small shot caused 

 acute pain to face, hands, and neck, and drove me huddled 

 and heedless into the bottom of the boat, which went 

 whithersoever it listed, and this, to sum up the catalogue of 

 woes, was on the rockiest part of the foreshore. Ten minutes' 

 peppering with large hailstones seemed a whole day of pain 

 and discomfort, and there was an accompaniment of thunder 

 and lightning that added an element of awe to the warfare. 



