A BROOK 



depth beneath, just as my eyes began to see the 

 bottom, something like a short thick dark stick 

 drifted out from the arch, somewhat sideways. 

 Instead of proceeding with the current, it had 

 hardly cleared the arch when it took a position 

 parallel to the flowing water and brought up. It 

 was thickest at the end that faced the stream ; at 

 the other there was a slight motion as if caused 

 by the current against a flexible membrane, as it 

 sways a flag. Gazing down intently into the 

 shadow, the colour of the sides of the fish appeared 

 at first not exactly uniform, and presently these 

 indistinct differences resolved themselves into spots. 

 It was a trout, perhaps a pound and a half in 

 weight. 



His position was at the side of the arch, out of 

 the rush of the current, and almost behind the pier, 

 but where he could see anything that came floating 

 along under the culvert. Immediately above him 

 but not over was the mass of weeds tangled in the 

 dead branch. Thus in the shadow of the bridge 

 and in the darkness under the weeds he might 

 easily have escaped notice. He was, too, extremely 

 wary. The slightest motion was enough to send 

 him instantly under the arch ; his cover was but 

 a foot distant, and a trout shoots twelve inches in 

 a fraction of time. 



The summer advanced, the hay was carted, and 

 75 



