xii A THAMES SALMON an 



nearly time to go ashore for the train ; she 

 had had her day's salmon-fishing, and was 

 in a fair way to be persuaded that the fault 

 of failure was not mine but fate's. And all 

 would doubtless have been well if she had 

 not soon afterwards had a bite, and, after 

 a severe tussle, succeeded in landing the 

 fish. 



It was a three-pound chub, plump, silvery, 

 and, as such a fish is apt to be, imposing. 

 I was about to disclose its identity to 

 Amaryllis, who was still palpitating with 

 excitement, when William, looking at it 

 judicially, said suddenly, " It is a salmon, 

 by Jove ! " That did the mischief. 

 Amaryllis's secret suspicions were con- 

 firmed, and she at once agreed with him 

 enthusiastically. She had seen salmon in 

 shops, and they were just such big bright 

 fish as this. Its head was, perhaps, a trifle 

 big, and some of its fins were red, but in 

 all other respects it was just what it should 

 have been. 



I shrugged my shoulders ; their minds 

 were made up, and it was no good saying 

 anything, for they would not now have 

 believed me. I merely observed ironically 



