The Angling Excuse 37 



to explain that he happened by the merest 

 chance to fall in with a number of rising 

 trout at a particularly cosy corner in the 

 stream ; and that, also by the merest chance 

 in the world, he was so fortunate as to hook 

 every one of them securely ? As a matter 

 of fact, you know perfectly well that he filled 

 his creel with trout because he angled un- 

 commonly well, and that you failed to fill 

 yours, or a quarter fill it, because you bungled 

 with fish after fish, and wasted the best part 

 of the day hammering away at a rise which 

 eventually turned out to be that of a disgust- 

 ing little six-inch grayling or even a dace. It 

 makes no difference ; you cannot nourish the 

 least feeling of hostility towards him. But 

 with the arrogant angler who never makes 

 a bag without making a bawl about it, who 

 will have it that the trout were rising rather 

 badly than well in the particular stretch he 

 was fishing, and that, if he had been else- 

 where, he would have filled his creel thrice 

 over, it is altogether different. When this 

 sort of angler has a thoroughly bad day 



