v FLY-FISHER'S AFTERMATH 71 



the east. 1 All through May he may venture 

 to use more and more the privileges of a 

 friend, and on the first day of June he may 

 seek for his opportunity. He will find it 

 very soon afterwards, on a day when he 

 reaches the river, and finds that the May-fly 

 is really up, the river boiling with hungry 

 trout, and the air alive with equally hungry 

 swallows. The chances are that he will 

 need no encouragement then, but if he 

 should, let the settling of a May-fly on his 

 nose be a signal for putting it to the issue. 

 If after that he does not win his suit, write 

 him down a blunderer and unworthy to 

 succeed. 



It is an open question which is the 

 happier, the lover at the supreme moment 

 of affirmative, or the fisherman when he sees 

 his May-fly taken at the first cast by a fish 

 that seems to disturb the whole river by its 

 size and eagerness. To avoid controversy 

 let it be said that they are equally happy. 

 On this summit of the good things of life, 

 however, I must pause, for the pursuance of 



1 This sentence was written some years ago, but it seems 

 to have acquired some of the qualities of a permanent truth. 

 April is a month sadly changed for the worse. 



