A TEESPASS AND A TROUT 9 



landing-net, which in the excitement of the moment the 

 old gentleman had dropped, I had the capture — a fairly 

 well-conditioned brown trout of nearly Ij lb. weight — 

 kicking on the grass in a " twinkhng." 



" My first trout this season," exclaimed the dehghted 

 angler, as he deftly unhooked the fish and laid it amongst 

 a growth of cool, yellow-blossomed marsh marigolds 

 growing on the margin of the stream. " And," added he 

 with a smile, "I have to thank you, sir, for your goodness 

 in landing it so skilfully." 



To curtail a long story, in the course of conversation 

 I learned that Mr B. rented a very charming cottage 

 standing on the riverside, together with the sole fish- 

 ing rights over some three-quarters of a mile of the 

 water. This ideal Httle place forms his home during 

 the summer months, and in late autumn he migrates 

 with the swallows to sunnier cHmes. 



" I find that a couple of hours with even a 6j-oz. rod 

 are just as much as I am able to manage comfortably, 

 and, having already exceeded that limit, will you do 

 me the pleasure of taking my rod while I reHeve you of 

 the landing-net ? " suddenly remarked my new acquaint- 

 ance as we sat on the bank smoking and chatting and 

 watching the swallows hawking for insects over the surface 

 of the stream. 



It was not without a slight feehng of embarrassment 

 that I took the perfectly balanced spht cane, for, 

 apart from the fact of my being purely and simply a 

 trespasser on the old gentleman's fishery, I am bound to 



