THE TORRENT. 2 19 



age from this pond, and am unable to say at how early a 

 time the spots appear. 



We had resumed our rods, and were wading side by 

 side down the river. From the junction of the Cascade 

 brook the Pemigewasset flows in a rapid stream over 

 rocks, without any deep holes, till it reaches the bridge. 

 Few trout are to be found along this reach. Just above 

 and just below the bridge we found plenty of small fish, 

 and on this day we counted seventy from the still water 

 below. Then we pushed on down stream to the gorge. 

 The torrent had become fierce and strong, and the roar 

 at the head of the first fall was so loud that we could not 

 hear each other shout at ten paces' distance. Every 

 plunge of the river now went into a deep pool, from 

 which we took several fish, averaging about a quarter of 

 a pound, with an occasional larger one. It was no longer 

 possible to wade, except close along the edges, nor often 

 there. At one spot we paused, where the stream nar- 

 rowed between high rocks. On the right bank a smooth 

 slope of rock fell into ten feet of rushing foam, the upper 

 edge of the slope, skirted with brush, some twenty feet 

 above the water. The left bank showed a ledge of rock 

 down which one might go, if it were possible to cross. I 

 tried the passage cautiously, step by step, careful to se- 

 cure the position of one foot before I lifted the other. In 

 mid-stream, with three feet of wild water sweeping around 

 me, I looked back and saw Dupont working along the 

 sloping rock, almost over my head, holding by the bushes, 

 and swinging himself along hand over hand for twenty 

 feet, until he reached a ledge below. How he held his 

 rod I can not imagine. I crossed, and we did not speak 

 to each other for a half-hour after that. The thunder of 

 the river rose between us. When I rejoined him it was 



