in MAY-DAY ON THE EXE 43 



befall. A wax match is the first thing ; it 

 falls into the river with a hiss, and the fish 

 makes a dash at it. But he does not 

 actually touch it, for it is only your very 

 young trout that can be deluded in this 

 way ; he will try to eat almost anything 

 that falls into the water. After the wax 

 match has been refused the man on the 

 bridge is sufficiently interested to desire 

 worms, and he gets a bit of stick and digs 

 about in the grass at the side of the road, a 

 tiresome process, which only results in one 

 worm after much digging. This worm he 

 duly throws in to the patriarch, and a 

 surprising thing happens : as soon as the 

 worm touches the water another patriarch, 

 even bigger than the first (he looks a good 

 pound) darts out from under the bridge and 

 seizes the offering while the first looks re- 

 spectfully, albeit hungrily, on. If the man 

 on the bridge is a stranger to the neighbour- 

 hood, his first thought will be that the size 

 of the Exe trout has been much underrated, 

 and he will be pleased. Later on he will 

 be disappointed. But if he has been here 

 before he will know those patriarchs well 

 and will not be misled. 



