98 AN ANGLER AT LARGE 



had failed to take, and in the light of this 

 experience he was inclined to belittle his first 

 supreme performance. He was enchanted with 

 his sport, but by no means puffed-up, and he was 

 as ready as ever to sit at my feet and hear me 

 talk, in spite of my having caught nothing more. 

 Subsequently, during that season, he beat my 

 take every time, and I think he must have modi- 

 fied his view of my dexterity. But he never let 

 me see this, which shows, first, what a magnifi- 

 cent nature is MacArthur's, and, secondly, that 

 a first-rate wet-fly angler who approaches a chalk- 

 stream with the proper rod and line, and takes 

 an instructor in whom he has implicit confidence, 

 can do as well as anybody, if he will only follow 

 that instructor's hints to the letter. But I have 

 yet to hear of the dry-fly man who mastered 

 wet-fly fishing in a season, or in five seasons. 

 Two things are necessary to both arts : an 

 apparatus and manual skill. But to the wet- 

 fly game must be added knowledge. And the 

 greatest of these is knowledge. 



