210 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



who was enjoying his dinner of cold bacon and 

 bread and the contents of a flat stone bottle. 

 He was affable, and revealed the secret of his 

 success. He baited with morsels of potato, bits 

 of which he occasionally threw in to attract the 

 fish. 



With this new lure I tried at a swim a little 

 distance off but no luck ! Then up came the 

 keeper again with sage advice, which resulted in 

 the transference of a coin from my pocket into 

 his, and of a dozen fair-sized roach from his 

 possession into mine. Thus I basely and in- 

 gloriously escaped the ignominy of returning to 

 my fair and expectant cousins empty-handed ! 



Our sport was considerably interfered with by 

 sundry schoolboys, who, from the other side the 

 mere, persisted in slinging stones in our direction. 

 The moaning hum of these deadly missies within 

 a few feet of our heads was not pleasant. As 

 evening fell I and the other anglers started 

 for home; the youngsters, tired of their play, 

 departed. 



Warrington, though a rather dingy manufac- 

 turing town, is famous for certain things less 

 prosaic than wire-drawing and cotton-spinning. 

 It has historic associations, for Cromwell occupied 

 its outskirts, and built redoubts during his advance 



