374 Ifctngs of tbe 1ftot>, IRifle, anfc (Sun 



twenty circular miles around ; and you might have seen 

 in reality ' seven women taking hold of one man ' in the 

 heartswell of friendship, some in a cackle of joy for the 

 feeling of present security, and all from heart-gladness 

 that the parting, perhaps for ever, was yet thrown into 

 the idea of an indefinite distance of time." 



Why, or by whose orders, the beacons were fired was 

 never satisfactorily explained. But it is possible that 

 the false alarm was given of deliberate purpose to test 

 the spirit of the volunteers and the mobility of their 

 organisation. If so, the result was certainly reassuring. 



That was the beginning and end of John Younger's 

 martial experiences. But his angling experiences had 

 barely begun. It was not until after this never-to-be- 

 forgotten " False Alarm " that John, being then in his 

 twentieth year, killed his first clean " fish " with a trout- 

 fly an event which opened a new vista of sport to him, 

 as he tells in the following passage : 



" David was with me on a fine summer evening when 

 I killed my first clean salmon with the small trout fly. 

 The salmon nipt down my fly in the Broom-ends strong 

 stream about sunset, and the full moon was high and 

 bright before I could land him safely. Great and 

 glorious as we both were on the occasion, we resolved to 

 be honest ; so wading the water, we went up to George 

 Sanderson, then the fisherman at Kipperhall, and showed 

 our fish caught with the trout fly, expecting that he 

 would generously let us have it to carry home at 

 something like half price, which we had boldly resolved 

 to muster. But George was a shabby fellow ; he 

 demanded the full price, a sum so far above our 



