226 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



Tintern. A little while after I heard a languid voice 

 say, " Want some hot water." A quarter of an hour 

 elapsed, when I heard the same words again ; after 

 about a similar interval of time I heard, " Want a 

 stocking;" and then, after a long pause, "Want a 

 stocking" again. I was out of all patience ; so I went 

 up to entreat the man of wants to use more expedi- 

 tion, as we were losing a very fine morning. 



I did not find him in his room, but sitting down half 

 dressed on the upper stair near it, looking at his sketch- 

 book. He had not shaved, as his hint for hot water, 

 having been uttered in a mild tone, had not been taken. 

 He did not so much care about shaving, he said, but he 

 could not go out with only one stocking on, and he 

 could not find the other, and unluckily he had sent his 

 dirty ones to be washed. It certainly was true that 

 one of his legs was bare ; and, after a fruitless hunt, 

 we had nothing left for it but to send into the town 

 and buy a fresh pair. After they arrived, however, he 

 discovered that there was no particular necessity for 

 such a step, as he had favoured one leg at the expense 

 of the other, by putting both stockings on it. 



I had already breakfasted, and my impatience in- 

 creased ; so it was agreed that my friend should take 

 our host's little pony, and join me above Melrose Bridge. 

 When I got to the spot, Tom Purdie, who was usually 

 very forward on these occasions, was not arrived ; but 

 I descried Mr. Tintern at a distance, not upon the inn- 

 keeper's pony, but walking down hill ; and I went to 

 meet him that he might not miss us at the river. I 

 came up to him precisely at the turnpike by Newton, 



