THE BROOK IN APRIL 



sturdy, lithe, shiny-sided fellows they are, 

 at this time of year almost as beautiful 

 and as alert as salmon, weighing some- 

 times five or six pounds. The same in- 

 toxication which makes the flood froth 

 and dance and shout as it tumbles down 

 the steeps from meadow to meadow 

 seems to thrill in their veins and give 

 them strength to cleave an arrow flight 

 through the quivering rapids and gambol 

 up the falls with an exultant agility that 

 seems strange in this fish that is so slug- 

 gish and dull on the pond bottom in mid- 

 summer. 



Adam's ale is brewed the year round, 

 but it is the spring drought that works 

 miracles of agility in the blood of somber 

 creatures. Winter fishes are like some 

 middle-class Englishmen sitting glum and 

 motionless in their stalls. Only when 

 tapster Spring draws the ale and the bar- 



