i8o THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



and the trout which served as the medium may 

 have been "deaf." Taking my position on a high 

 bank above the fish and completely out of sight, I 

 had a young man go below and thirty feet down- 

 stream. Lying prone upon the opposite shore, 

 which was level with the water, and taking 

 pains not to make any quick move which might 

 have spoiled the experiment, he took two stones, 

 one in each hand, and, at a signal from me, 

 struck them together, a foot under water. He 

 did this a dozen times, each succeeding blow 

 being harder than the previous one. The sound 

 produced by the clashing stones had no ap- 

 parent effect upon the fish, but I noticed that 

 the series of small waves or ripples created by 

 the disturbance of the surface, upon reaching the 

 trout, seemed to make it uneasy, and it began 

 "weaving" from side to side, covering, however, 

 not more than a foot in its movements. When 

 the fish had quieted down, and after another 

 trial, with the same effect, I had the lad abandon 

 the stones and make as large a wave as he could, 

 directed toward the fish. There was consider- 

 able splashing during the attempt, but the trout 

 gave no indication that it was aware of the dis- 

 turbance until the first ripple was passing over 

 it, when it became as uneasy as before, and 



