56 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



and added to my fears by showing that he was but 

 lightly hooked outside his mouth by the tail triangle 

 of the flight that the bleak had spun on. It was 

 then I did a foolish thing : I changed back the rod 

 to the rested arm ; the movement was seen ; the 

 frightened fish turned and plunged, and, in doing 

 so, struck the trace with his tail and freed himself. 

 There is much that might be said far more ap- 

 propriate for such occasions than is likely to occur 

 immediately on the heels of the misfortune. A 

 very pious man, or the most philosophical one, 

 would be less likely to surprise himself if he re- 

 mained speechless for a while. Time, at times of 

 trial, before speech is everything, for each and all 

 of us need some meditation before we can say an 

 appropriate equivalent of: "'Tis better to have 

 loved and lost, etc." 



The loss of that much-coveted fish was grievous 

 at the time, but now it is a mere incident in a day 

 of pleasing memories. Then I felt that my greatest 

 hope of achievement for that day had gone and it 

 was with sobered ambition I lit a morning pipe and 

 tried to think it would he almost as pleasing if I 

 could but get a smaller fish to show that such early 

 rising and desertion were warrantable. 



The smoky mist that had hung so long at the 

 tail of the pool cleared when the sun came on the 

 withy boughs, and flies, perhaps while using legs 

 to rub sleepy eyes, were falling, to the great delight 

 of bleak that made the steady flow of water there 

 look as if huge raindrops were pattering down. 

 This sight was bringing to my mind that the bleak 

 were giving great advertisement of their where- 

 abouts when they fluttered simultaneously on the 



