OR WALTONIAN CHRONICLE. 113 



picking of the store, one of the fishers hastened suddenly forward, 

 there happened to he only one in the supply what an Angler calls 

 a pretty bait, the rest were much too small ; this hait the first in 

 advance secured, put his rod together, baited his hook, reared his 

 rod against the house, and pitched his baited hook on the tiles. 



His companions deprecated the monopoly, when they found he 

 had possessed the only bait worth having, and determined to get 

 possession of it if possible, but this proved impracticable, as the 

 first, suspecting their plan, kept a close watch upon them. A 

 sudden exclamation from the servant girl outside called the atten- 

 tion of the Anglers, who all rushed to the door, when they 

 discovered, to the confusion of the owner of the rod left as aforesaid- 

 that a large torn cat had taken his handsome bait, hook, and all > 

 away bounced the Tabby, the rod was dashed to the ground and 

 broken, the line run out to its full length, twisted and wound 

 round every gooseberry bush ; every hole in the paling, every 

 hedge was threadled, till the line became quite tight, and winding 

 in so many directions that Rosamond's silken clew was a fool to 

 it ; the cat, when he could run no further, bounced, tacked, and 

 jumped till he broke the line, and then ran off at full speed ; 

 the owner of the rod, after trying in vain to unravel the line, 

 abandoned it as hopeless ; thus a selfish disposition was justly 

 punished. 



Shurry's water is next, so called from an old man 

 of that name, residing at the wooden house by the 

 river, near Chingford church ; this water is considered 

 by many old Anglers to be very good, containing 

 numerous fish of almost every description ; from the 

 stop by the osier bed to the pool near the house there 

 are many good swims, and the pool frequently con- 

 tains a good Trout or two ; above to the mill stream 

 is good deep water for Chub, Roach, Jack, &c. ; up 



