A Seven-Pounder 57 



I felt it was impossible to conscientiously put 

 him down at under five pounds ; indeed, it 

 more than once occurred to me that it was 

 false modesty to set him down at an ounce 

 under seven pounds, and on at least one 

 occasion during day-dreams he has pulled 

 down the scale at something decidedly 

 heavier than even the latter weight. Later 

 that same evening — which was one of the 

 most oppressively warm I have ever known 

 by the river-side — I took a beautiful trout of 

 well over three pounds, and that made some 

 slight amends for the dire disaster with the 

 possible seven-pounder, or, to put it in 

 another way, for the five-pounder-at-the- 

 very-least. Most anglers have a fish of this 

 character to dwell upon at suitable seasons 

 — a fish which has become 'a memory and 

 a pang.' 



