128 In Pursuit of the Trout 



Kennet, and the osier-bed pool was of all 

 spots the one which would be inhabited by 

 the biggest trout of all. 



It is a cruel thing, and an unnecessary- 

 thing, to destroy these dear delusions, for 

 such no doubt they frequently are. Some- 

 times we do so ourselves by obstinately 

 returning again and again to a fish we have 

 hooked and lost. Finally we hook and land 

 the fish, and are disgusted to find that it is 

 not much more than sizable. Such things 

 have occurred, even in the case of the most 

 experienced and adroit anglers. Splitcane is 

 not the only angler I know who has been 

 cruelly disillusioned. A friend told me last 

 season that he spent the best part of two long 

 days throwing over what he took to be a 

 very heavy trout by its quiet, businesslike 

 rise at olive duns, and that he eventually 

 discovered it to be about six inches long. 

 Fortunately these painful disclosures are 

 only occasional. As a rule, when we lose 

 our unseen fish we are permitted to believe 

 that a very monster has escaped the landing- 



