OF THE BEST ANGLER 49 



too much sun ; the water was two degrees too 

 cold ; the wind was wrong ; the weeds were the 

 very devil. Such fish as he rose he covered 

 perfectly at the first cast, but they all came short, 

 or the light was awkward and he didn't see his fly 

 as it fell. Perhaps he got his hook in, but it was 

 in too lightly ; or the fish, a very strong one, went 

 to weed in spite of all he could do to prevent it. 

 He winds up with an explanation of the lack 

 of fly or a dissertation upon weed-cutting. But 

 he takes no fishes. Such saving only the 

 Marryat-like casting and the Francis-like know- 

 ledge am I. 



Chavender, arriving a moment later, pours out 

 a brace of trout weighing four and half pounds. 

 He can afford to keep silent as to his failures, 

 of which there have been many no doubt, so he 

 offers no excuses. He never offers excuses, hold- 

 ing rightly that if there is any blame to be 

 bestowed it belongs to the angler more than 

 anywhere else. Excuses only make incompetence 

 more evident. To say that a fish went to weed 

 is, in other words, to say that the angler was unable 

 to stop him. And as it would be ridiculous to 

 criticise the fish for seeking to escape, if criticism 

 is necessary at all, it must be directed upon the 

 fisherman. A complete reticence: about these 

 disasters is the seemly conduct. 



