FLY-FISHING. 293 



desired spot. A moment of expectancy succeeds ; 

 the flies approach the very place where the trout 

 was last seen. Look at the angler how with keen 

 eye he watches, to strike with alert hand the moment 

 he either feels or sees the least movement. There is 

 a stoppage of the line and an instantaneous move- 

 ment of the angler's wrist, and the trout is fast. At 

 first he shakes his head as if surprised and bewildered 

 at the unwonted interference with his liberty, but 

 gradually awakening to a sense of the danger of his 

 position, he collects his scattered energies, and makes 

 a gallant fight for liberty. Frequently he will leap in 

 the air several times as if to ascertain the character 

 of his opponent, and then make a frantic rush ; but 

 the figure on the bank follows him like a shadow, 

 and at last, strength and hope both exhausted, he 

 turns on his side and becomes an easy prey, leaving 

 the angler to congratulate himself on having achieved 

 such a feat with a tiny hook and tackle like a gos- 

 samer. 



The victory, however, is not always with the 

 angler more frequently the other way. Often at the 

 last moment, just as he is putting out his hand to 

 secure his prize, the trout makes a bolt, and is gone, 

 leaving the disappointed artist the picture of blank 

 dismay, and in a very unenviable frame of mind ; in- 

 deed, of aU the trials of the temper which occur in 

 the ordinary course of life, there is none to compare 



