54 AN ANGLER'S HOURS m 



for which the Exe fish are notable beyond 

 all of my experience. One of them, how- 

 ever, is very different from his fellows a 

 long, thin, black fish who had his abode in 

 a patch of the dark water-moss, of which I 

 have spoken as being found more in the 

 Barle than in the bright Exe. 



As he lies at his ease enjoying his well- 

 earned lunch, thoughts of the beauteous 

 Lorna and of the " girt Jan Ridd " come to 

 him ; he would give a king's ransom to see 

 the one and shake the other by the hand ; 

 for no one who has the least of poetry in 

 him, lying here by the side of Exe with the 

 moor all round, not ten miles away from the 

 parish of Oare, could doubt for an instant of 

 their reality, or could feel surprised to see 

 the great yeoman appear suddenly over the 

 brow of the hill riding back from Dulverton 

 on his good but uncertain-tempered horse, 

 Kickums, with his long Spanish gun slung 

 behind him. A big Doone or two would 

 also not come amiss, even though they 

 should question the validity of the angler's 

 card of permission to fish, or, so little do 

 they reck of the law, of his licence itself. 

 He is a man of peace, and he would not 



