68 ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS. 



open mouth, would fling himself high into the air 

 in a brave attempt to seize a passing moth ; and 

 again, a two-pounder, like a miniature porpoise, 

 would lazily rise to the surface, roll up his golden 

 side, and, iiinging his broad tail upward, with a 

 splash disappear. Casting loose my flies and un- 

 coiling my leader, I made ready to cast ; but John, 

 unmindful or regardless of the motion, kept the even 

 sweep of his stroke. Eound tufted banks, under 

 overhanging pines, and through tangled lily-pads 

 we passed, and at every turn and up every stretch 

 of water the same sight presented itself. At length, 

 sweeping sharply round a curve, John suddenly re- 

 versed his paddle and checked the boat, so that the 

 bow stood upon the very rim of a pool some forty 

 feet across. Dark and gloomy it lay, with its sur- 

 face as smooth as though no ripple had ever crossed 

 it. No one would have guessed that beneath the 

 tranquil surface lay life and sport. 



Adjusting myself firmly on my narrow seat, un- 

 tangling the sneUs and gathering up my leader, I 

 flung the flies into mid-air and launched them out 

 over the pool. The moment their feathery forms 

 had specked the water, a single gleam of yellow 

 light flashed up from the dark depth, and a trout, 

 closing his mouth upon the brown hackle, darted 

 downward. I struck and had him. A small trout 

 he proved to be, of only some half-pound weight. 

 After having passed him over to John to be disen- 



