A Seven-Pounder 53 



panion. It was a day of days, and the trout 

 were landed so fast that at length the two 

 anglers took counsel. Said one, ' Look 

 here, we must stop this ; I get a pound fish 

 at almost every cast.' Replied the other, 

 ' So do I. Let us return everything under 

 two pounds.' Before long it was necessary to 

 hold a second council, the situation being 

 more serious than ever. ' I say, old fellow,' 

 exclaimed one of the distressed anglers, ' the 

 two-pounders are coming out dreadfully 

 thick now.' So the limit was further raised 

 to two and a-half pounds. Even then there 

 was considerable slaughter, and the carnage 

 before the end of the day's sport was quite 

 appalling. The owner, however (who hated 

 fishing himself, and deemed it very slow work 

 indeed), was not in the least disturbed, and 

 encouraged his diffident guests to fish on, if 

 so they chose, to the troutful end. 



Towards the close of may-fly season — to 

 be precise, on Whit Monday, 1895 — it fell 

 to my lot to fish the stretch of water immedi- 

 ately below the spot where the two-pounders 



