174 TROUT LORE 



sky." Then in the morning, up with the birds, 

 offering flies instead of worms to the early fish, 

 and back in the city ready to begin business clear- 

 eyed and clear-brained. Trout lore ! Had it not 

 been for my many, many camps, night long, week 

 long, month long, by the side of silvery stream- 

 lets and mighty waters, this work would never 

 have come into being. 



Wife and I have gone into the woods time and 

 again, with our whole commissary department, 

 home, and sporting tools upon our backs, to re- 

 turn at the end of our vacation, brown-cheeked 

 and red-blooded, possessed of new knowledge of 

 the out-o'doors, and with greater respect for those 

 wise ones who live from choice close to the soil. 

 So I have gained my knowledge of trout ways, 

 and so I have had many a delightful outing. I 

 think you will agree with me that, for the writer, 

 migratory camping forms an important part of 

 "Trout Lore." If this chapter shall have 

 tempted you to go and do likewise, I am satis- 

 fied; that is, providing you yield to the tempta- 

 tion. All the way along I have tried to show 

 you that not outfit, but the man, is of supreme 

 importance: a truth which reaches the nth power 

 in this chapter. My remarks regarding the 

 cooking of trout are reserved for the next. 



