SALMOXID^. 19 



his head and remarked, " To-morrow will be Sunday. I shall 

 have to wait till the following day. Sonny, can you tell me 

 if there is any trout-fishing about here ? " Trout-fishing ! to 

 me there was magic in the sound. Of course my Sunday- 

 school lesson lapsed next day. Appetite deserted me — I even 

 refused the golden gingerbread that my aunt supplied at noon 

 from the family lunch-basket. But you should have seen 

 that stranger fish on Monday ! It was not that he took so 

 very many fish, but the way in which he did it. In the first 

 place his rod was so constructed in different pieces that he 

 could joint it together, and it was nicely varnished too, and 

 stiffer and more supple than our long hickory poles. I did ' 

 not see what kind of bait he used — I didn't see him use any — 

 but he gave a flourish of his arm, and tossed his Hue every 

 time, far, far beyond the most ambitious attempts of ours ; 

 and nearly every time a fish took his hook. Big fellows they 

 were, too, I can teU you. We always knew they were onb 

 there in that deep water nuder the alders, for we had seen 

 them break there, often. We never tried to fish there ; we 

 could not reach them from this side, and upon the other the 

 bushes were so thick it was useless to attempt it. All day 

 long, while fishing with him, I employed my nicest art. I 

 took only a few big ones — any dozen of his would have out- 

 weighed my whole string. It aggravated me awfully. He 

 said I was an excellent iait fisher, but thought I would learn 

 to prefer a fly. Before he went away he gave me some 

 instructions and a few flies. Since then I have always used 

 a fly, except in certain contingencies. 



II. 



Some gentlemen, by no means pretentious or opinionated, 

 dehght to assert that since they became recognized anglers 

 they have never taken a trout or a salmon except with a 

 fly. I doff my hat in reverence to the sentiment ; it is 

 the honest utterance of a justifiable pride. It is the spirit 



