A DAY WITH THE OUSE PIKE 85 



nearly twenty-four pounds. A great pity that such a fish 

 should have been hooked on such primitive tackle. 



All round those meadows permission could easily have 

 been obtained ; although Mr. Topham and Mr. G. W. 

 Ladds, the owners, had an objection to Sunday fishing, 

 they never interfered with respectful weekday anglers. 

 There are two or three villages hereabouts where strangers 

 could make themselves comfortable. 



After leaving Wray House Island I found a long stretch 

 of wide and rather shallow water, but still worth spinning 

 over ; this time, although I tried it carefully, only a couple 

 of very small ones sampled those sprats. Beyond this 

 wide stretch the river contracts and is much deeper, with 

 tall flags, bushes, and an overhanging bank, and some 

 splendid streamy runs, that I always tried most carefully. 

 On the right-hand bank, going down stream, the water 

 belonged to Mr. Cardell, and that on the left was the pro- 

 perty of Lord Wantage ; permission was not hard to 

 obtain. 



That lovely October day I was considerably startled 

 whilst admiring the surroundings of that beautiful spot. 

 I heard a voice, high-pitched and shrill, that seemed to 

 come from the depths of a bream hole under the flags on 

 the opposite bank, asking me if I had had good sport. 

 I was not thinking of anybody just then, and I never 

 saw the glint of a rod nor heard any sound from among 

 those reeds and flags. " Bless my heart," thought I, 

 " there is either a mermaid or a fairy somewhere near," as 

 the voice was decidedly of a feminine tone. However, it 

 did not turn out to be anything so formidable or startling, 

 but was simply a rustic Phyllis fishing away for bream with 

 all the intentness and, I may add, skill of a club angler who 

 is looking after his season's prize and has only got that 

 afternoon in which to win it. 



That damsel, clad in the coarsest dress, with a huge Zulu 

 hat on her head, face and hands browned by the suns of 

 many summers, her feet encased in a pair of huge water- 



