144 AN ANGLER'S HOURS ix 



the river with dry feet. Sometimes though, 

 when the river runs higher than its wont, 

 even this serpentine path is delusive ; the 

 rills gain in size from their parent's over- 

 flow, and in turn spread out over the 

 meadows until there are two or three inches 

 of water through which one must splash. 

 Hence some of our fishermen wear long 

 rubber boots, though they are not comfort- 

 able, and hardly necessary ; stout shooting- 

 boots kept carefully greased are enough to 

 defy the damp. 



And now let us sit down on the famous 

 Black Fence and mop our brows, for it has 

 been no small walk from the station. More- 

 over, it will be as well to investigate the 

 luncheon that has been packed for us in the 

 creel ; breakfast is a thing of the ancient 

 past, and there are fifty good miles between 

 us and the great city in which we ate it. If 

 a man who has come all that distance does 

 not deserve his luncheon nobody does. 

 And while we eat we can observe. I have 

 said that this fence on which we sit is 

 famous. It has seen the capture of many a 

 fine fish ; the river here turns a corner after 

 a rapid shallow, and forms a deep pool with 



