THE ANGLER'S GUIDE. 141 



something very mysterious about it, and he 

 could not tell how the glass went out of his 

 hand ; he only knew that it did go, and was 

 dashed to atoms, and when the alarm at what 

 he had done had brought him to a little, he 

 found to his utter dismay that instead of dust- 

 ing the holy glass with his duster, he had 

 absolutely been using the nightcap of Saint 

 Soak, which was considered by some the most 

 sacred relic in the chest. He could hardly 

 tell how it was, but he sometimes thought that 

 the relic of Saint Soak did not agree with the 

 relic of Saint Sips ; beside which, the saint did 

 not like to see his nightcap turned into a 

 duster, and consequently, the utter destruc- 

 tion of the tumbler was the consequence. 



Now, all this had happened through the 

 tippling propensity of Bigings, and though it 

 was not all found out, yet out of his place he 

 would have gone, only he was considered by 

 the priests, and spoken of by them, as a pro- 

 selyte to their holy religion. It must, there- 

 fore, be seen very clearly that angling was 

 rather a dangerous amusement for him. And 

 his wife knew this, and she thought that if he 

 should get topheavy while he was fishing, it 

 was quite as likely that he might tumble into 



