14 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



the couple who took a valet with them, primed to 

 be careful of his speech that no one should know 

 they were on their honeymoon, for, at their first 

 stopping-place, the other guests took so much 

 notice of their doings that the valet was carpeted ; 

 but he most stoutly and truthfully denied having let 

 the secret out : " Bedad, yer honour," said he, " it's 

 everyone of me that tould them you wouldn't be 

 marrying for another fortnight yet." 



There is a stream running by The Hunter's 

 Inn ; 



"It winds through the meadows scarcely seen, 

 For o'er it the flowers and grasses lean, 

 And thus, half-hidden, it ripples along, 

 The whole way singing its summer song." 



It was full of trout, some of which gave me great 

 delight by enabling me to show my skill to my 

 little lady and to provide another dish for breakfast. 

 It sounds too much to call it the Heddon River, 

 but, "What's in a name?" For me it was the 

 sweetest little brook that ever flowed. It draws its 

 rise from Challacombe Common, on the border of 

 Exmoor, flows through Hoi worthy, quite a wee 

 thing, and then on to Parracombe, after which it 

 becomes of more importance and has little pools in 

 every bend from which an eight-ounce trout may be 

 got if tried for from the rear. 



It winds its way through woods and brakes, 

 through orchards, farmyards and meadows, until it 

 reaches The Hunter's Inn and then, with the aid 

 of a still smaller stream, it broadens out and looks 

 as important as it can in its quiet stately travel over 

 its last mile to Heddon's mouth. Even here, in its 

 widest part, your smallest rod, your finest line and 



