ANGLING COUSINS AT THE VICARAGE 97 



" Very well, my dear fellow," he said airily, " you 

 know best. We shall have the Mayfly up in about a 

 month ; the girls will know how to use a rod by then, 

 and you'll simply have to buy split canes after all. 

 You use a split cane, / use a split cane, and you must 

 be deplorably ignorant of girl nature if you suppose 

 they will be content with greenhearts two minutes 

 after they have seen our rods put together." 



Such an argument the young man respected, and, 

 relenting, he bought split-cane rods. Light gun-metal 

 winches, 30 yards of tapered line, and the regulation 

 etceteras were completed by a couple of waterproof 

 bags of the finest material, as taking more kindly to 

 the female form than a hard, bumping, stick-out creel. 

 As was explained to Blind, there would be always some- 

 one to look after the fish caught, if any ; the bag was 

 for fly-book, scent bottle, spring balance, and trifles of 

 that kind, never forgetting fine cutting pliers in case of 

 accidents with fingers, lips, noses, or ears hooked foul. 



The preliminary lessons being rudimentary and in 

 the nature of drudgery were of course entrusted to 

 cousin. They were to be imparted, to begin with, on 

 the smooth sward of the bowling green. The girls re- 

 quired to be persuaded a little to this humble curri- 

 culum, which, in truth, is a comfortable, serviceable, 

 and labour-saving way of mastering the rudiments. 

 Granted it is make-believe, yet not more than practising 

 at a target. The pupils at last were convinced that it 

 was a sensible means to an end, and began with a 

 flower-pot saucer varying yards up the lawn. Blind 

 took almost naturally to the trick of allowing the rod 

 to have its natural way. It was wonderful how after 

 a quarter of an hour she intuitively understood what 

 to do. But that was her nature ; as a child she was 

 never flustered, and at the first trial her leisurely sweep, 



