74 AN ANGLER'S LINES. 



A TRAGEDY OF THE MERE, 



A MERE of considerable extent whereon 

 wild duck innumerable were disporting 

 themselves in the sunlight; a stiffish breeze 

 that sent the waves lapping against the side of 

 the punt in which were seated a companion 

 and myself. Such was the setting. 



The occasion; a despairing endeavour to 

 patch a slender reputation as a slayer of pike 

 with which I was at one time invested. A 

 grievous thing to live up to, this reputation, 

 acquired by sheer luck rather than ability, for 

 luck is a fickle jade and, as is her wont, of late 

 she had basely deserted me, so that my small 

 repute had by degrees become thin and thread- 

 bare, and now, alas ! was rent and torn beyond 

 recognition. 



At the first run my trace of fine wire 

 broke in the strike; at the second, a new one 

 of salmon-gut followed suit; at the third cast, 



