CHAPTER XIV. 



AN ITCH EX BASKET. 



IN the early morning and throughout the day light 

 westerly breezes and sunshine sufficient without being 

 too glaring for one's eyes were highly favourable 

 for dry-fly practice in Shawford park, where the 

 main river and a back stream flow together at the 

 lower boundaries of the estate, encircling it. The 

 perfect peace of the whole environment was congenial 

 to the spirit of one of Izaak Walton's " contempla- 

 tive men," and that there was no competing rod at 

 work was not a matter of over-keen regret, nor that 

 there was nobody to speak to throughout the day 

 any cause of complaining of the solitude. For, with 

 natural objects all around, who could feel dull ? 

 The lowly flowers strewing one's pathway along the 

 verdant sward, and those, tall and graceful, on the 

 river banks (of which hemp agrimony, willow 

 herb, and Lysimachia vulgar is are at the end of 

 August the most luxuriant and conspicuous) were like 

 familiar friends, welcomed on an annually recurring 

 visit. Hooks, plovers, and other birds passed over- 

 head under a clear blue sky, over which pure white 



