21 



rock. We shiug- our fish, head aud tail after a brief rest, 

 and hung- them across our shoulders, then we squelched on, 

 throiigh the sponge-like sodden ground, and followed the 

 snake-like windings of that river for a few more miles with- 

 out anything- to vary the monotony except the difficulty of 

 getting' across intervening ditches, clambering' over stone 

 walls, and torcing oneself through blackthorn hedges. How 

 we did enjoy ourselves I But this kind of thing is very 

 satisfying;, and when we had kept it up 'till between two and 

 three o'clock — after five hours' tramping — it was carried 

 imanimously that all the edibles and drinkables in our fi.sh- 

 ing bags should be disposed of. We did justice to the 

 frugal fare, and wished there had been more of it ; Ave did 

 ditto by our flasks, and expressed our mutual disgust at 

 the small capacity of those " wretched things" ; then w.^ 

 had another pipe. How far was it to the bridge ? Oh ! 

 about another four miles, if we followed the Avindings of 

 the river, and that was the best way. I began to think 

 that twelve pounder was not such a good-looking fish as he 

 appeared to be Avhen first I slung- him round my neck. 

 Four miles more, floundering' OA'er boo-o-y oround, canviii": 

 that fish, with a salmon rod and gaft', and a fishing bag' to 

 boot, was not a pleasant prospect, but it had to be done, 

 so on Ave Avent. Here and there, at likely pools I had a 

 few casts, more for the sake of a rest than anything else, 

 and finally, after two hours' hard plodding, Ave reached our 

 trysting- place, the footbridge across the ri\'er. I was 

 fairly done up, and my host, a AvJry fellow, sank down by 

 the roadside, under the load of his seventeen pounder and 

 a bi<>' rod, and groaned out "Where is that blackguard Larry, 

 and the car y" Where, indeed ; Ave were too much pumped 

 out to trouble much at first — it was barely five o'clock — • 

 but soon it began to spit with rain, and an ominous black 

 cloud spread its mantle across the sky, and at half-past five 

 it Avas almost dark, and the rain coming doAvn pretty 

 smaitly. Still no signs of Larry and his car! AVe were 

 sixteen miles from home and the nearest village Avas tei^ 

 miles aAA-ay, in the opposite direction- — -where could that 

 rascally felloAv be ? Perhaps he had passed the bridge and 



