A R E L O W 8l 



patriarch of the pool, and would not only 

 need some skill in coaxing, but the bat- 

 tle would only be half won supposing I 

 should succeed in hooking him. I had 

 decided to go lower down and work up- 

 stream, but the prospect of some sport 

 with a lusty pounder soon caused me to 

 alter my plans. 



Rounding the mill, so as to approach 

 the pool unseen from below, I had to 

 pass within touching distance of the mill 

 wheel. More than once, when a boy, had 

 the miller douched me with a somewhat 

 violent shower-bath when passing that 

 point, so that I ever kept an eye on the 

 wheel lest the trick should be repeated. 

 The reason for such behaviour on the 

 part of my floury enemy was that he 

 nursed a fond delusion that the fish in 

 the pool were his particular property ; 

 and as he had ample facilities for getting 

 the best of them by means that were 

 anything but fair, he naturally looked 

 6 



