132 AN ANGLER'S HOURS vm 



guinea, and the March brown was by no 

 means so ill tied. In short, Fortune wore 

 a smiling face as the first cast was made 

 from behind a blackberry bush onto a 

 pool at the lowest end of the garden. The 

 moment the fly touched the water a tiny 

 fish was upon it, and was immediately 

 twitched out, so as not to disturb the pool 

 more than was necessary. The captive was 

 an undoubted trout, though it measured 

 scarce five inches, and was rather dark in 

 colour, a natural result of living in so opaque 

 a stream. 



It did not take long to make these obser- 

 vations and return the fish to the water, and 

 then the fly was again despatched round the 

 bush. The second cast produced a second 

 troutlet even smaller than the first, and 

 within five minutes the angler had twitched 

 out three others from the same place, and 

 he began to wonder whether he had stumbled 

 on a hatchery and was angling among the 

 fry. Presently, however, he found that 

 there were better fish in the brook. The 

 March brown fell just at the edge of a 

 film that had collected in one corner, there 

 was a flash of a golden side, and a strong 



