180 THE ENTOMOLOGY OF THE ERNE. 



" Were you short in fiery brown pig's 

 wool?" said the Parson, maliciously. "You 

 should have come to me ; I had plenty." 



" Fiery brown!" exclaimed the Captain. 

 " If ever there was true auburn in this 

 world " 



" There, there ; that will do," broke in 

 the Squire ; " that will do. Of course it was 

 auburn, that is the ladies' colour ; it is only 

 men's hair that is red. But what good did 

 you do with your auburn fly ? Was anything 

 besides yourself meshed in the mazes of 

 Neoera's hair ?" 



" It is very odd," said the Captain ; " I 

 am not at all superstitious, as you know ; 

 but the fact is — you need not laugh, Parson 

 — that I never did have such success with 

 any fly that I ever made, as I had with that." 



" Did not the consciousness of the value 

 risked at the end of your line make your 

 hand unsteady ?" 



" It did," said the Captain ; "you cannot 

 conceive the state of mind I was in when I 

 lost it at last : I hung it on the trees at Mois 

 Kuan." 



" Why on earth did you not climb up after 

 it, then ? " said the Parson. 



