224 PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 



poses than his pocket-book of bank bills, he very 

 naturally racked his brain to remember from whom 

 he had obtained the rascally counterfeit. Months 

 afterward it was still in his wallet, and he was in 

 the habit of showing it to his friends to test their 

 skill as judges of genuine currency. On one occa- 

 sion, more than a year after he became the posses- 

 sor of the bill, an expert pointed out to him a tiny 

 spot upon it, which, to the expert, furnished incon- 

 testible proof of its character. In bringing the 

 bill close to his eyes to discover the defect to which 

 his friend had directed his attention, he held it 

 near his nostrils and instantly detected the odor of 

 fresh beef. After a second sniff, he stepped back 

 with an air and attitude as tragic and as artistic as 

 ever Forrest assumed in his role of Metamora, and 

 exclaimed : 



" I now do know the sanguinary wretch 



Who thus hath tricked me of iny honest gains ; 



And by the rood [he meant rod] which gentle Izaak plied, 



I'll make the fiend disgor-r-r-ge. 



This bill came to me from my butcher ! " 

 And such was the fact. The delinquent remem- 

 bered having missed a counterfeit five which he 

 had kept hidden, as he supposed, but which, by 

 some accident, had found its way into the till 

 which contained genuine money. My friend has 

 thought well of his nose ever since. 



