CHAPTER VII 



Three married Couples go a-fishing, get wet, and visit Uncle 

 Uncle's little Mistake 



AMONG my happiest recollections of fishing outings 

 are those of reaching picnics, the participants in 

 which were three married couples. The exciting 

 feature of these outings was the stubborn contest 

 for the best take of fish, the incentive being the 

 much-prized honour of receiving a pair of gloves 

 paid for by the possessor of the second-best take, 

 while the owner of the least-esteemed catch had 

 to provide two pairs for each of the ladies. 



It was the custom for us to call each other by 

 our shortest names Jack, Ted, and Phil. It is 

 very pleasant to be so called by pretty lips and 

 valued friends. 



Jack's uncle owned an estate, which Jack had 

 good reason to hope would some day be his, a part 

 of which is a wealth of rich meadow land, and 

 through it a lovely stream meanders, which in 

 places is narrowed and made crooked by banks 

 that have ancient pollard withies dotted here and 

 there, one of which has a wide opening that shows 

 its empty inside wherein you might shelter from a 

 storm, while its shoots, grown to hurdle-making 

 size, still give grateful shade or shelter to the fisher 

 who would try the eddying water at its roots. 



Every bend has a pool, and in some of them the 



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