JACK-O'-LANTERN 



Lac du Gros Ruisseau — the Lake of the 

 Fat Red Ones. Three hours more of dili- 

 gent labour the following afternoon, in 

 weather that could not be quarrelled with 

 except for the same untowardly wind, was 

 only rewarded with one fish of a pound and 

 a quarter who dashed for the fly when 

 hope was almost gone. Heavy rain from 

 five o'clock to six did not stir the trout to 

 activity. On neither day was there token 

 of the evening rise that is usually so marked 

 at this season of the year. 



Indulging in meditation and conjecture 

 (many others must have done so upon a like 

 experience), what conclusions is it fair to 

 draw as to the lake and its inhabitants? One 

 may set out with the safe assumption that 

 an undisturbed water carries such a weight 

 of fish as the food will support, and food 

 there was in plenty. The units here must 

 be large and relatively few; had they been 

 small and numerous they could not have 

 failed to disclose themselves, even under 

 conditions not wholly favourable. The 

 nervousness and shyness of the little ones 

 that rose in the shallows point rather to 

 harassed and precarious lives than to an 

 atmospheric cause. They avoided the 

 deeper parts, probably with good reason. 

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