ANGLING REMINISCENCES. 31 



required. Off I set, and soon arrived at an emi- 

 nence from which I was to overlook the promised 

 sheet of water but where was it ? I beheld nothing 

 but a wide stretch of heather, and two or three in- 

 dividuals on its surface cutting moss for fuel. In- 

 quiring of them where the spot lay, they one and 

 all seemed astonished at my query, declared they 

 knew nothing of its existence, and demanded from 

 whom I had received my information. On de- 

 scribing the personal appearance of the man, they 

 broke out into a sort of chuckle, exclaiming, " It 

 was Rory the black liar!" 



May. And did you chastise the dog ? 



Leister. It would need good leather to take skin 

 from the devil ! But, look you, what a lovely trout 

 Tom Otter is in the act of landing. 



Otter. I have him hooked with my minnow- 

 tackle, and in such a prime stream, no wonder 

 the fish is a good one ; see what a breadth he has, 

 and how unlike the large-headed monster captured 

 a few minutes ago. He wants five inches of its 

 length, and weighs notwithstanding an additional 

 half-pound. He is in miniature what I once took 



in Loch ; but I must get him paired 



speedily from the same pool, and with a fresh bait. 

 Choose me a minnow, May-fly, out of the pitcher. 



May. Here is a large one, and coloured like a 

 rainbow. 



Otter. Toss it away ! Thou art no judge of a 

 dainty bait. I want a small, silvery, spruce-look- 



