DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 65 



ing a bottle of them looked as if he would be as glad 

 to be rid of them as I was of an umbrella that a gust 

 of wind played havoc with in Regent Street. Min- 

 nows will take food off a bent pin if offered by a boy ; 

 indeed, their love for boys and glass jars will often 

 cause them to make attempts to swallow the pin 

 while obstinately refusing the daintiest morsel from 

 a man. 



When Nell said : " Minnows, please," I determined 

 quickly to take her with me and, if possible, surrender 

 the pleasure of catching them to her. It so happened 

 that I had very recently had the honour of escorting 

 her to Shoolbred's, where I was much impressed by 

 the politeness, grand manner, walk and feet, of the 

 shopwalker; so when I said: " This way, madam, 

 for the minnow department," I waved an arm and 

 walked as the shopwalker had, and, when at the 

 end of the walk, I offered a seat ; that is, I did it as 

 nearly as might be without practice or a chair. I did 

 him so well that the lady entered into the fun and 

 gathered her skirts together with a side-look for the 

 pretended chair. 



The shoal of minnows was still in the sandy eddy 

 from which I had taken the others, some pecking 

 at overhanging grasses, others catching and mouth- 

 ing floating trifles, ejecting them again when done 

 with. There were strong ones doing fancy tricks 

 that weaker ones tried in vain to emulate. I did 

 my best to induce the lady to take the rod and help 

 herself to minnows but she sat down on the grass, 

 folded her hands and said: " If you don't mind I 

 would prefer to sit and watch." 



The nervous tension caused by all and sundry of 

 these circumstances so magnified the importance of 



! ' 



