250 LINES IN PLEASANT PLACES 



was nothing short of high treason to catch such lovely 

 trout with anything other than artificial fly. Just 

 then his float went off like a flash almost close to the 

 punt, and as he fought his fish with bended rod he 

 murmured that, meanwhile, minnow or worm was 

 quite good enough for him. The way in which a fifth 

 member of the party, a youth who had brought us a 

 bucket of minnows (so-called), hurled out half-pounders 

 high in the air, and sent them spinning behind him, 

 was provocative of screams of laughter. In the morn- 

 ing I was anxious to try this lower lake with the fly 

 rod, though warned by the farmer that it was of little 

 use. For the good of A.'s piscatorial soul I, neverthe- 

 less, insisted, and the capture of two quarter-pounders 

 with a red palmer, and several short rises, rewarded my 

 efforts in his interests. If he has not received my 

 counsel, and laid it to heart, it will not be because he 

 did not have ocular demonstration of the virtues of 

 fly-fishing. I was not surprised to hear that these 

 club fish were not free risers at the fly, for both ponds 

 were swarming with half-inch and one-inch fry, as 

 tempting as our own minnows, and the trout simply 

 lived in an atmosphere of them. Our Canadian brother 

 anglers here, as elsewhere, are of the real good stamp, 

 sportsmen to the core, pisciculturists, botanists, 

 naturalists, racy conversationalists, and big-hearted 

 to a man. Please fortune I shall shake hands with 

 them another day. 



