CHAPTER V 



THE EVENING 



THE evening in fishing begins, to my mind, as 

 nearly as possible at five o'clock. The interval 

 between afternoon and evening is bridged by tea, 

 that modest stimulant which is so refreshing to mind 

 and body after a hot, tiring, and possibly unpro- 

 ductive day. Nearly all my friends laugh at my 

 enthusiasm for tea, but I do not mind how much 

 they laugh so long as they do not interfere with my 

 plans for ensuring it. And I have converted a man 

 here and there to my way of thinking, for which I 

 do not always get thanked. There is nobody so 

 desolate as the person accustomed to afternoon 

 tea when for any reason that luxury is not obtain- 

 able. The angler who has grown to be accustomed 

 to it would be well advised to take some trouble to 

 get it, The provision of tea sometimes seems a 

 new and rather revolutionary idea to dames who 

 inhabit riverside cottages, but after coquetting with 

 it awhile they usually come to see that it is not one 

 of the impossibilities, and presently you will find that 

 they take quite kindly to the business. Failing the 



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