38 THE COIVIPLETE SPORTSMAN 



ancestors. But it must always be remembered 

 that at the time when Noah fished for his daily 

 bread — or, rather, his daily bream — there was 

 not a single dry-fly to be had. The only two 

 flies resident in the Ark had got thoroughly 

 wet through long before they came on board, 

 and to supply the existing deficiency of bait by 

 sacrificing one of these valuable lepidoptera, 

 upon whose survival the whole future of their 

 race depended, would in any case have been the 

 height of folly. 



That some such solution of the problem 

 crossed the mind of Japhet (the expert fisher- 

 man of the party) we have good reason for 

 believing. As he turned a contemplative eye 

 upon the various animals in his charge, seeking 

 to determine which of them would prove the 

 most suitable decoration for the bare fish-hook 

 that he held in his hand, a perceptible shudder 

 ruffled the surface of that sheltered community; 

 the two worms who were lying half asleep in 

 an upper bunk on the saloon deck, huddled more 

 closely together for mutual comfort and sup- 

 port; the breathing of the ants came quick and 

 sharp; and you could almost hear the beating 

 of the caterpillars' hearts. It was, indeed, an 

 auspicious moment for all the inmates of that 

 floating palace, where so many couples lived 

 together in what Ham facetiously described as 



