THE TROUT OF THE FOAM 91 



bow, went into the air, curved over the flies and 

 disappeared. Would he come again? I cast 

 with little hope, but instantly the fish leaped and 

 I struck. Now I am not going to tell of the 

 battle : that is superfluous and impossible. Any- 

 way, for a long twenty minutes I played the 

 trout, in the rapids and out of them. At last, 

 becoming impatient and under-estimating the 

 strength of the fish, I attempted to use the net. 

 As the net neared his shining body there was a 

 leap, a great flop, and an empty net with an 

 entangled fly. It was all my fault, but that did 

 not salve my mind in the slightest. It was my 

 big trout of the upper pool. Not a speckled 

 trout, as I had thought. Just why he came down 

 out of the pool to bathe in the rushing water is 

 a question. I hardly think a speckled trout of 

 the same size would have made the transfer. 

 Xow had I had that fish in the upper pool there 

 is no question in my mind but that I would have 

 succeeded in landing him, but the current was 

 too faithful an ally. Some day I am going back 

 to that same pool and I hope I may be permitted 

 again to try conclusions with that rainbow. 



Your experienced angler soon learns where to 

 look for trout when they are lying out in the 

 rapids; indeed, he seems to feel the presence of 



