263 MAKERSTOUN 



and that at any moment she might come down in dirty 

 spate. The wind was boisterous, flinging the earliest gold 

 of autumn upon the waters, and curling the surface of the 

 still pools bravely. The sun shone broad upon the great 

 oaks, but kindly clouds barred its radiance at times. 

 It was an ideal fishing day, if only 'she' would stop 

 rising. 



So down we sped to the Doors, and I stood once again 

 upon Michael Scot's massive dam beshrew me (whatever 

 that may mean) if I could believe myself forty years older 

 than when I stood there last ! The tail of the pool should 

 be tried first, but that cannot be done without a boat ; so 

 we embarked, and sidled stealthily down the rock-side, 

 careful not to disturb the good lying at the top. The 

 water was clear as gin, and, as aforesaid, very low, so it 

 was the tiniest ' silver gray ' in my box that was presented 

 to the invisible inmates of the pool. Hardly had the little 

 fly taken half a dozen flights across the water when there 

 came a disturbance in its vicinity. A good ' boil ' in mid- 

 stream, but no corresponding ' rug ' at the line. Just the 

 sort of rise that is most trying to over-sensitive nerves ; 

 for if you strike a salmon on the rise, as you would a 

 trout, it is almost certain that you will not only miss him, 

 but disgust his excellency, so that he will not move again. 

 The ' boil ' is generally caused by the fish poising behind 

 the fly to inspect the novelty. If he doesn't fancy the 

 look of it he lets it pass ; but if you don't snatch it rudely 

 away, the chances are that, having been at the trouble of 

 coming to the surface, he will not return without making 

 a grab at it. And so it happened in this instance. The 

 fly continued its journey across the stream; before it 

 reached the hither side the line tightened with a twang, 



