n8 ARDENMOHR. 



resources indoors, and Fred, forcing his spirits with 

 hope of still more sea-trout, hailed me with 



" Have an egg or a cutlet, Mr. Abbott ? Do not 

 people declare that fish won't take before rain ? " 



" Yes ; but yesterday was an exception." 



" I should say so : yesterday fish far from diffident, 

 and this day is far from dry." 



"Be quiet, little boy, and hand me the toast; we 

 can talk after breakfast." 



"Now, Fred," I said, on finishing my third cup, 

 " what do you want to know about fishing ? " 



" Oh, just why some coming rains prevent fish 

 rising, and others do not." 



" Who can say why barometer, wind, and sky, all 

 fail to indicate certainty, one can only go by common 

 observation. So be content with general rules, Fred ; 

 they do well enough. Any day with high, clear 

 water and few white clouds should do for salmon, and 

 dull warm days for trout, and that ten out of a dozen 

 times." 



"You find pike are very capricious, do you not? 

 Sometimes they refuse everything?" 



" Yes ; and at others are just as determined tc 

 feed, as I once saw." 



" Oh, tell me about it. 



