148 LINES IN PLEASANT PLACES 



Hardy Brothers to the making of a special rod to fit 

 the young Clif Ionian's hand. 



To the advantage of ample means should be added 

 in happy sequence that Halford had, on the whole, 

 robust health to enjoy his fishing. His regular habits 

 of living, and common sense in food and matters of 

 hygiene kept him in excellent condition. Early rising 

 and early bed-going were his rule at home and abroad. 

 Truly, he was in these matters captain of both soul and 

 body. Then his good fortune shone in his happy home 

 life. After the death of Mrs. Halford a few years ago, 

 it was feared the effect upon her husband would be 

 abiding cause for anxiety. As time went on, however, 

 a new era dawned ; the son had married a lady who 

 was, from the first, " puppetty's " best chum ; bonnie 

 grandchildren arrived to make much of " puppetty," a 

 charming house was taken for the united home, and 

 there was sunshine again. It was sweet to see the 

 contented grandfather in the midst of it and witness 

 the devotion of the young people to him. 



Amongst anglers in the English-speaking world Hal- 

 ford has been long known as the apostle nay, the 

 Gamaliel of what is called " The Dry Fly School." It 

 is said that he reduced dry-fly fishing to a science. By 

 some he is ranked as the arch-type of the dry-fly purist, 

 by which word, I suppose, is meant the pushing of a 

 theory to an extreme. Certainly of late years devo- 

 tion to the fly-rod admitted of no allurements in other 

 directions, and henceforth Halford will be generally 

 known, as he has been known since he took rank as 

 master, as a first authority on the one branch of our 

 sport. Yet he reached that position through the love 

 and practice of every kind of fishing in short, through 

 his enthusiasm as an " all-round angler," as it is the 

 custom to formularise the general practitioner of our 



