274 



THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



to fish the mere on the morrow, and everything 

 was prepared for our sport. The gamekeeper had 

 obtained a quantity of gudgeon from a neighbour- 

 ing river, and they had been kept fresh and lively 

 in a tank sunk in the mere. Ere the coffee came 

 in I had heard many wonderful stories about the 

 immense fish that were to be caught in the mere, 

 and went to bed perfectly convinced that at last 

 I was to realise my dreams, and catch some mon- 

 ster pike ; and I slept uneasily. 



We were up and about on our way to the lake. 

 It was a brilliantly bright morning so dry and 

 frosty that the stiff north-east wind blew golden 

 clouds of dust along the roads. The sun, as he 

 climbed over the oak plantation, threw his level 

 beams across the undulating meadows, which were 

 barred with steps of deep, dark, and brilliant light 

 green, as they lay in sunlight or shadow. 



We lost little time in embarking, and, selecting 

 good-sized gudgeons, we baited our spinning-tackle, 

 and proceeded to trail our baits round the mere. 

 The wavelets leaped cheerily against the side of 

 our boat, and the water-fowl swam lazily from 

 before us, or flew into the rustling reeds. The 

 sheltered corners of the bays were coated with ice ; 

 the reeds were laid and rotted by the frost ; the 

 water was just the right colour, and it seemed a 

 perfect day both for enjoyment and for sport. 

 Our expectations were high, and it seemed as if 

 they were to be realised. In the first round we 



w??. 



