172 PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 



longer " master of the situation," he was as indig- 

 nant as was Balaam when his poor beast refused to 

 do his bidding. 



But the perplexities of fire-kindling in the woods 

 after a rain storm, like other human ills, always 

 have an ending. Yery soon a glowing log-heap 

 rendered our selected camping ground home-like 

 and comfortable. The tents were pitched, the sur- 

 roundings were speedily brought into ship-shape, 

 a bountiful supper was prepared and eaten with a 

 relish, the moon and the stars shone out resplen- 

 dently, and after two or three hours of mingled 

 sedate and merry conversation, stillness reigned 

 supreme over the camp of a quartette of weary but 

 happy anglers. 



The morning after the tempest was all that heart 

 could wish. The huge fire built in the centre of 

 the camp had been kept in full blaze during the 

 night, and dispersed every vestige of moisture 

 within camp range long before any one not obliged 

 to be moving cared to leave his comfortable couch. 

 We had grown into the habit of taking things lei- 

 surely and were unwilling to break over a very- 

 pleasant custom simply because, by being tardy, 

 we might fail to reach our destination before night- 

 fall. I know that those who act upon the " early 

 bird" theory may deem this confession deroga- 

 tory to the character of zealous anglers. But I long 



