A Purist amongst Purists 167 



he as little desired to be seen by human beings 

 as by trout ; the purist, having arrived at the 

 water-side, select a spot where the stream ran 

 deep and rather sluggish ; the purist take a 

 small tin case out of his breast-pocket, 

 impale a writhing worm, secreted in the 

 moss in that case, on his hook, and forthwith 

 hurriedly and rather guiltily commit 'simple 

 sacrilege.' The Stripling, being wise, held 

 his peace ; but when in the smoking-room 

 that same evening he listened to yet another 

 lecture on the usual subject, he could not 

 help thinking that there was more in ' the 

 real thing,' as carried out by his new friend 

 the purist, than appeared on the surface. 



