A COR-K SEAT ON A WASPS' NEST. 59 



of water." I was hungry and I Avas thirsty, 

 and I had thoughtlessly omitted to provide 

 for such contingencies. Around me on all 

 sides were provisions in baskets and tins and 

 boxes, and beer in bottles and stone jars, 

 and whisky in flasks and casks beer and 

 whisky everywhere, but not a drop to drink 

 for me. 



It seemed to me that when an angler is not 

 fishing he is sure to be smoking, and when 

 he is not smoking he is sure to be eating or 

 drinking. It must of a certainty be hungry 

 and thirsty work. Imagine how delighted I 

 was, then, to discover two angling friends 

 under a tree, earnestly smoking and fishing, 

 as became them. 



Their welcome of me was cordial, though I 

 cannot say it was very much so. They have 

 got the impression that I not only cannot 

 catch fish myself, but that my very presence 

 is the cause of their not catching any ! They 

 think there is something antipathetic betwixt 

 me and the fishes, and on river banks they 

 prefer my absence to my company. Any way 

 they regaled me handsomely, and I felt re- 

 freshed. They spread a cork seat for me on 

 the margin of the lake. 



I had no sooner reclined thereon than I 

 was startled by a buzzing round and round 



