THE BILLIARD TABLE POOL. 65 



one hot afternoon building castles in the water 

 of two pound trout and fairy tackle, I heard a 

 step behind me and a man of about forty 

 passed along. We spoke about the usual 

 topics, and it was soon apparent that he knew 

 every yard of the river and had killed more fish 

 upon it than he was able to remember. He 

 said he was going out that evening; and for 

 over an hour we sat on the bank smoking and 

 talking. 



Without asking my name or telling me his, 

 he ended by saying I was welcome to fish his 

 meadows, some three quarters of a mile, 

 extending from below the miller's water down 

 to the stone cart bridge. Perhaps he thought 

 this sounded too general an invitation to be 

 acted upon, for he then gave me a card ' has 

 permission to fish Tuesdays and Fridays.* 

 " You will find me there most evenings " he 

 said " but whether or not there is plenty of 

 room for two." 



The possession of that card seemed almost 

 too good to be true. Permission is one thing 

 but the card put quite a different pleasure into 

 it. The next morning I arrived at the inn, 

 intending to sleep there that night so as to 

 have every chance of stopping out as long as 

 it was light enough to see a fly. 



A drizzly rain after tea time promised a wet 

 evening ; and, by some unaccountable reason in 

 strapping on my mackintosh my canvas creel 

 was left at home. It is said to be lucky to 

 forget something, so stuffing two extra hand- 



