THE HALCYON IN CANADA. 229 



as when he first finds himself upon the bank of a 

 new and long-sought stream. When I was a boy 

 and used to go a-fishing, I could seldom restrain 

 my eagerness after I arrived in sight of the brook 

 or pond, and must needs run the rest of the way. 

 Then the delay in rigging my tackle was a trial my 

 patience was never quite equal to. After I had made 

 a few casts, or had caught one fish, I could pause and 

 adjust my line properly. I found some remnant of 

 the old enthusiasm still in me when I sprang from 

 the buck-board that afternoon, and saw the strange 

 river rushing by. I would have given something if 

 my tackle had been rigged so that I could have tried 

 on the instant the temper of the trout that had just 

 broken the surface within easy reach of the shore. 

 But I had anticipated this moment coming along, and 

 had surreptitiously undone my rod-case and got my 

 reel out of my bag, and was therefore a few moments 

 ahead of my companion in making the first cast. 

 The trout rose readily, and almost too soon we had 

 more than enough for dinner, though no " rod-smash- 

 ers " had been seen or felt. Our experience the next 

 morning, and during the day, and the next morning 

 in the lake, in the rapids, in the pools, was about the 

 same ; there was a surfeit of trout eight or ten inches 

 long, though we rarely kept any under ten ; but the 

 big fish were lazy and would not rise ; they were in 

 the deepest water and did not like to get up. 



The third day, in the afternoon, we had our first 

 and only thorough sensation in the shape of a big 



