viii A MINIATURE STREAM 129 



impeded by a ditch, a small matter, but one 

 that had far-reaching results, as will appear. 

 The ditch was two feet in width, and 

 contained water of a sombre quality. The 

 angler, unwilling to step across to the 

 dubious opposite bank, threw the end of his 

 cigarette indignantly into the obstacle. Then 

 a remarkable thing happened : there was a 

 commotion in the murky water, and the 

 missile disappeared, only to reappear a 

 moment later. The angler whistled and 

 rubbed his eyes ; then he whistled again. 

 Then he turned and sought for some means 

 of testing what looked like a discovery. 

 Grasshoppers were plentiful in the thin 

 grass round him, and very soon one was 

 captured and thrown after the cigarette-end. 

 Again there was a commotion, and the 

 grasshopper disappeared. But this time 

 there was no reappearance, and this time the 

 angler had been on the alert, and had dis- 

 tinctly seen the form of a small fish a small 

 fish, moreover, with spots. His counte- 

 nance cleared. Pebbleville was, after all, 

 not so dull a place as he had thought, and 

 presently he made honourable amends, and 

 acknowledged to himself that a man might 



K 



