OF THE FISHES 143 



north wind bearing gray showers of 

 snow down the valley. But there is an 

 inspiriting quality which inspires the 

 sportsman with a keenness and desire 

 for activity in these short, wintry days, 

 which appeal to his instincts more acute- 

 ly than the genial sunshine, beautiful 

 as it is, of a St Martin's summer. 



That day which followed the wild 

 outburst of wind and rain was marked 

 by no great achievement from an ang- 

 ler's point of view, yet it is as fresh in 

 the memory as if it were yesterday. The 

 stream, which had travelled from the far 

 horizon of rusty heather, which reached 

 like a ragged line of darkness across the 

 sky, sinking quickly down to a lower 

 level. Here the unseen spring mutter- 

 ing watery syllables as it slowly strug- 

 gles through the brown leaves which 

 lay deep in the shady dells. There the 

 wider current gurgling and rippling in- 

 termittently as it whirls round a mossy 



