The Thames Trout Fisherman 109 



making his punt fast in the very roar of the 

 waterfall. A few minutes later he tried his 

 first cast. The bait, weighted to a nicety, 

 was dropped softly into the water a yard or 

 two from the fall, and quickly dragged down 

 by the strong current into a comparatively 

 gentle stream. The angler watched the line 

 with intense interest and concern. When 

 the current, not to be denied, had swept 

 the bait into quiet water, he withdrew it 

 and went through the operation again. Ten, 

 twenty, fifty times was the bait withdrawn 

 and replaced with a machine-like regularity, 

 and yet the spirits of the fishermen were 

 scarcely dashed. At the fiftieth cast he 

 was still hopeful, and after it still unre- 

 warded. 



While he was removing a little bunch of 

 weed from his hook a boat came round the 

 bend, and threatened to invade the little bit 

 of choice trout-water which the angler was 

 doubtless congratulating himself on having 

 found so secluded and unoccupied. Then, 

 and not till then, he raised his eyes, saw 



