XXII 



OF MR. BLENNERHASSETT FOR THE SECOND 



TIME 



SINCE my first meeting with Mr. Blenner- 

 hassett, 1 have never until to-day happened to 

 find that peremptory gentleman by the riverside. 

 I have not missed him. Such people do not add 

 to the charm of the water-meadows. Living as I 

 do on the very water, I am able to pick and choose 

 my moments for angling, and seldom fish for more 

 than a few hours each day. The Blennerhassett 

 comes from a distance, and cannot always do that. 

 It is scarcely odd, then, that in all this long time 

 I have not encountered him. No, it is only 

 fortunate. 



To-day, however, as I sat on a hatch in the 

 lower of the Two Meadows, with my feet in the 

 water, digesting my breakfast and reflecting on 

 the value of the kipper to trout-fishers, I was 

 hailed from behind, and turning perceived Mr. 

 Blennerhassett striding towards me. Next mo- 

 ment he towered above me, and the fish which I 



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