2 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



commonly associated with the comfort- 

 able leisure of spring and summer. How 

 eager were our speculations ! The Tay, 

 which runs by the side of the road to 

 Kenmore, had risen three feet in the 

 night. Was this from rain or from a 

 melting of snow on the mountains ? If 

 the flood was merely or mainly the result 

 of a thaw, it would be no advantage : 

 salmon do not move much, and seldom 

 take a bait, in snow-broth. On the other 

 hand, if the flood was from rain, it would 

 be highly opportune ; and Master Hubert 

 had heard rain lashing against his window 

 all through the night. My host, more 

 cautious in conjecture than either of the 

 lads, was not sure that we should find 

 Loch Tay above the ordinary level. It 

 might be, he said, that the flood had come 

 from Glenlyon. He was not far wrong. 

 When we reached the loch, within half- 

 an-hour of the discussion, it was found to 

 be not more than two inches higher than 

 it had been during the frost ; the extra 

 yard of water in the river was due to a 



