66 THE BILLIARD TABLE POOL. 



kerchiefs into a pocket I started off in the best 

 spirits. The rain soon stopped : the clouds 

 grew higher, and between six and seven o'clock 

 there was every sign of a fine sunset and a 

 perfectly still evening. 



Turning off the railway line, I struck across 

 the gorse meadow, enjoying the swish of the 

 wet bracken against rubber boots, and the sight 

 of the yellow wagtails running after flies in the 

 hot odour of damp cowflanks. No better omen 

 of a good evening rise can be cited than this; 

 the birds often being absent from the meadows 

 for days together, and then congregating among 

 the cattle as though by prearrangement at a 

 particular hour in the afternoon. 



Half way down the water there are two dams 

 across the river made of larch trunks, at either 

 end of which were likely looking pools, and 

 after waiting among the dwarf willows for some 

 time my patience was rewarded by a rise. He 

 came at the first cast, a gray quill gnat but let 

 it go by; and the very next time changed his 

 mind and had it well. The moment he felt the 

 strike he was in under the willow roots, and 

 no coaxing or hand lining would move him. 

 After long manoeuvring the point frayed and 

 came back minus the fly. 



As I was looking for another, my friend the 

 owner came up the meadow and told me he had 

 lost the same fish the previous evening. Our 

 estimate of his weight no doubt did ample 

 justice, but still the fact remains that he was 

 worth anyone's best attention. * Now you fish 



