170 AN ANGLER'S HOURS x 



and hurled it to the ground in dangerous 

 proximity to the head of the indomitable 

 companion. He, however, paid no attention, 

 but calmly re-baited his hook, and was soon 

 fast in another perch, which was also safely 

 landed. 



I had so far not had a bite, and I stirred 

 uneasily as the wind hurled down another 

 piece of wood that was quite a branch, this 

 time near to my own head. The indomitable 

 one continued to catch perch, and the land- 

 ing of each fish seemed to be a signal for 

 a shower of missiles from above, which were 

 steadily increasing in size. At last, as a 

 great log came down with a resounding 

 thud about a yard from me, I arose, seized 

 my tackle, and, announcing that I thought 

 I would go on and explore up-stream, 

 departed without unnecessary delay, leaving 

 the indomitable one in the course of ex- 

 tracting the hook from his sixth perch with 

 an extremely cheerful countenance. It was 

 long, he said, since he had had such 

 sport. 



Some hundreds of yards were covered 

 before it was deemed safe to look back, and 

 then, amid what Horace calls a world 



