38 In Pursuit of the Trout 



while all the other rods on the water have 

 done something, his misfortunes will be more 

 than tolerable to you, even though you 

 regard him, apart from fishing, as a good 

 fellow and even a friend. The worst of 

 it is, when he is without trout he is rarely, 

 if ever, without an excuse or two. You see 

 him returning home, as you stand on the 

 steps outside the angling inn chatting with 

 two or three friends in regard to the day's 

 sport and the prospect of the morrow, and 

 know — intuitively from his dejected manner, 

 which he vainly tries to hide — that he has 

 had a simply shocking time of it. 'Well, 

 have you got 'em all ? ' is the well-worn 

 witticism which one of the party tries on 

 him by way of accentuating and bringing 

 home to him his misfortune. ' Oh, I only 

 turned out about an hour ago to see if there 

 was an evening rise,' is the reply ; ' have 

 scarcely cast a fly all day.' If he has got 

 only one trout, he will very likely say he 

 killed that in the morning, and that then, 

 seeing there was not much doing, he turned in, 



