10 DOVE DALE REVISITED 



Wednesday, October ist. I commenced 

 angling operations, and never was an adven- 

 turous old angler more thoughtfully or more 

 kindly guided and guarded than was I by my 

 good friend, our host of " The Izaak Walton," 

 who is an expert fisherman, knowing most things 

 about angling. We carried our luncheon with 

 us, and fished up the Dale as far as my old 

 acquaintance, Reynard's Cave, which has the 

 same old look (not possible fully to convey by 

 photographs). On my last visit I was tempted 

 to climb up to the kitchen, and thence on to 

 the top of the hill ; there was no rope to help 

 me then as there is now, and I was young and 

 active, having barely turned three score; but 

 now, although I could just as easily do it le 

 jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle. We fished all day, 

 but with no success ; mine host got a brace of 

 very small trout and I got nothing. 



In the smoke-room our various daily adven- 

 tures were duly discussed, and it was rather 

 consoling to find that not one of the experts, 

 these experienced hands, had done much better 

 than ourselves. That smoke-room is as cosy as 

 it is old-fashioned, with a large recess in the 

 window, forming a comfortable seat for three or 



