68 IN THE VALE OF 



mid-stream, not more than five or six yards from 

 and exactly opposite my seat ; but he regarded 

 me not, or only thought of me as a log, or as a 

 bit of the tree, or something of no interest what- 

 ever to him. He could hardly be called a rover, 

 but he kept a steady look-out ahead and aslant 

 upwards on each side. If he saw, as I fre- 

 quently saw, a small insect coming straight 

 down, he waited till it was over him, and then 

 he would quietly suck it down, scarcely disturb- 

 ing the water ; if to the right or left, he would go 

 up slowly a few yards to meet it. Now and 

 then he would dart off straight up stream as if 

 startled by me, but it was only to drive off another 

 trout, an intruder as big as himself; this one, 

 without showing fight, would turn round and be 

 off, and my champion would then return to his 

 place and be on the alert. Curiously enough, 

 there was another small trout constantly rising 

 and making small circles in the water two yards 

 beyond him, and of this he took no notice he 

 was probably his son, and allowed to get his 

 own living under the parental eye. Not once 

 during the whole of that three-quarters of an 

 hour did that big trout make a single splash in 

 the water, though I saw him take in scores of 



