22 WlTH A NlNE-FoOT 



unnoticeable but for the willow-bushes 

 ahead, which showed the silver-gray 

 under-surfaces of their leaves. The 

 banks were so overgrown that there was 

 no choice but to step from stone to stone 

 in mid- water, or to crawl along one side, 

 and a free cast was an impossibility even 

 with the shortest of rods and tackle. 

 Overhead, behind,in f ront,and on either 

 side were suspicious-looking branches 

 ever ready to embrace one's cast if it 

 happened to swish a few inches out of 

 its intended course. To get "fast" to 

 that trailing bramble growing out of the 

 shelving rock on the opposite side, 

 would mean a fly, if not more, lost, for 

 who would dare to attempt a rescue with 

 such an insecure footing ? The rocks 

 are water-polished and lubricated with 

 a green slime which would speedily has- 

 ten a too venturesome angler feet first 

 into eight or ten feet of swirling water. 

 To successfully land a quarter-pound 



