Splitcane's Awakening 83 



angler who desires to be alone, or at least 

 sequestered from the attention of rude fellows 

 and bold hussies. 



Thus might a man argue who had not 

 seen the spot in its summer dress ; and there 

 is no denying that it has a bleak, disconsolate 

 look after winter has committed his many 

 crimes, and laid low to a leaf all the foliage 

 of the beautiful willows and all the dense 

 vegetable life of the river's brink. The 

 author of ' My Old Village ' warns us never 

 to revisit the happy scenes of our youth. If 

 we do, we shall find everything changed for 

 the worse, and nothing but our own sad 

 ghosts to meet us by all the hedges. It 

 is almost equally depressing to revisit the 

 favourite haunts by one's favourite stream in 

 the depth of winter when the sundial is all 

 shadow. Most appalling is the rack and ruin 

 of the river-side. 



Thus the pool Between-the-Willows seems 

 in winter to have not a point in its favour. 

 In addition to its exposure to every curious 

 eye, it is little less than a raging torrent, for 



