HUNTING FOR FISHING IOI 



gized for not being able to serve us quite in the 

 royal style, but she gave us a lovely little spring 

 chicken, beautifully browned and cooked to a 

 turn, delicious gravy and egg sauce to match, 

 and the dish garnished with the sweetest little 

 bits of frizzled bacon that ever were eaten, and 

 the accompaniments were a dish of tender green 

 peas and new potatoes not the watery things 

 you get in a grand London restauraut, but really 

 firm yet tender juveniles. What more ? Cham- 

 pagne had never demoralized the Red Lion, and 

 the wines of France and Germany, of Spain and 

 Portugal were unknown. Cider they had, and 

 I am obliged to say that it was the only draw- 

 back to our feast ; it was very hard and rough, 

 I may say sour, and this our good landlady was 

 quite aware of and deplored. I suggested the 

 addition of a spoonful of whisky to tone down 

 its acerbity ; but she suggested gin as the best 

 corrective, so gin in our cider we had, and it 

 certainly made the cider drinkable. 



Now, hurrah ! for the river, and the enthusi- 

 astic landlord begged to be allowed to come 

 along and see our grand doings and to put us up 

 to all manner of dodges. Down we came to 

 that bridge, and there was that identical trout 



