A PECK OF TROUBLES 243 



of the soil full of information about the fineness of 

 the weather. And, of course, as I looked round the 

 line slackened, the fly lost its hold, and the two- 

 and-a-half -pound trout faded away out of reach. 

 It was hard in such circumstances to express any 

 interest in the weather, but I think I managed it. 

 My friend went on his road content, and I believe 

 he never realised that he had witnessed a tragedy 

 at all. The whole fight had been of the quietest, 

 and the fish never splashed or swirled. A spectator 

 might well have been ignorant of what was going 

 on, save for the bent rod. Later in the day I lost 

 another fish of equal bulk, which did not cheer me 

 at all. 



The moral of this incident is undoubtedly this : 

 when you have a considerable fish seen, rising, risen 

 or hooked, be deaf and dumb to the outside world, 

 unless of course it threatens to molest, frighten, 

 or otherwise interfere with the said fish. In that 

 case say what is given to you to say. You will 

 in due course acquire a certain reputation for aloof- 

 ness, but your sport will improve. 



The outside world is not much considered in 

 fishing meditations. More or less dimly, however, 

 every angler must from time to time be conscious 

 of an alien impinging something which meets him 

 at various points in his placid career, and which 

 has on him effects of various kinds, according to his 



