DIES PISCATORI^. 571 



is. Whiz ! why, what's the matter, now ? Has " the devil 

 kicked him on end ?" as my friend with the '' tarry breeks" 

 has it. He has taken but two or three yards of line, though. 

 How he hugs the bottom, and keeps the main channel ! Well, 

 he can't last much longer. Here he comes now, with a heavy 

 drag, and a distressing strain on my middle joint ; and now 

 I see him dimly, as I get him into the eddy; but there's 

 something tugging at the tail-fly. Yes, I have a brace of 

 them, and that accounts for the last dash, and the stubborn 

 groping for the bottom. What a clever way of trolling ! to 

 get an obliging Trout to take your dropper, and go sailing 

 around with four feet of gut, and a handsome stretcher at the 

 end of it, setting all the fish in the pool crazy, until some un- 

 lucky fellow hooks himself in the side of his mouth. How 

 shall I get the pair into my basket ? There is no way but 

 reeling close up, and getting the lower one into my net first, 

 and then with another dip to secure the fish on the dropper ; 

 but it must be done gently. So — well done ; three-quarters 

 of a pound to be credited to the dropper, and a half-pound to 

 the stretcher — total, one pound and a quarter. That will do 

 for the present. So I'll sit down on that flat rock and light my 

 dudeen, and try the remainder of the water presently. I'll 

 not compromise for less than four half-pound fish before I 

 leave the pool. 



These are some of the incidents that the lone fly-fisher 

 experiences on a favorable day, and the dreams and anticipa- 

 tions he has indulged in through the long gloomy winter are 

 in part realized. "Eeal joy," some one has said, is " a serious 

 thing," and the solitary angler proves it conclusively to him- 

 self. He is not troubled that some ardent young brother of 

 the rod may fish ahead of him, and disturb the water without 

 availing himself of all the chances ; or that a more discreet 

 companion may pass by some of the pools and rifts without 



