THE RISE 79 



some magnificent rainbow trout inhabit it; yet 

 in six hours' fishing, one afternoon, I raised but 

 one good-sized fish, in which I left my fly. The 

 dozen or more fish from ten to twenty inches in 

 length which could be seen restlessly swimming 

 about in each of the pools appeared to be inter- 

 ested in nothing but a desire to escape the 

 intense heat, and at length I abandoned the 

 sport as hopeless. 



A gentleman who had once lived in that sec- 

 tion, and who had fished the streams of the sur- 

 rounding country for over thirty years, invited 

 me to fish a stream some miles away with him 

 the next day. I accepted his invitation, and the 

 morning found us on the banks of what should 

 have been the Plattekill, but proved to be 

 nothing but a mere trickle. With many mis- 

 givings I started in, my companion going up- 

 stream about a mile to fish down and meet me. 



The only likely water within three or four 

 hundred yards was a pool under a dam, and here 

 I rose and pricked a good fish. Leaving him, I 

 cut across a neck of land to meet my companion 

 at the turn, and found him ready to quit. But 

 I determined to try again for the fish I had 

 risen, and, while following the stream back, dis- 

 covered a pool against the bank, some eight 



