WINCHESTER 115 



at twelve o'clock without a moment's delay, with 

 a rod and tackle ready for immediate use, and 

 with things of some kind on one's feet and legs, 

 which, even when the water was "out," would 

 with ordinary care keep a dry inside in the 

 water meadows. Wet feet may be wholesome 

 enough under proper conditions, but even at the 

 age of fourteen it is not good to eat dinner and 

 spend several sedentary hours in wet boots and 

 socks on every afternoon. By various expedients, 

 all these difficulties were satisfactorily overcome, 

 and if nothing untoward happened "up to books" 

 to delay one, and if "dons" were punctual in 

 getting work over, it was possible by running 

 to begin fishing at about five minutes past 

 twelve. Here let me explain how fortunate this 

 was for us, and by "us " is meant those few 

 of us who cared for fishing, the rest being un- 

 conscious of the special good fortune of having 

 this hour from twelve to one o'clock free. It 

 is, on the whole, the most likely hour in which 

 to find trout rising. In cold weather it is 

 often too early; in warm weather it is some- 

 times too late, but in the best of the fly fishing 

 season, and indeed in any month of the season, 



