APRIL 91 



whose company I was afloat caught 

 nearly a score. I witnessed, from strike 

 to landing-net, the capture of each char ; 

 but I did not see a single rise. Even 

 when a fish took a fly immediately after 

 it fell upon the gently -rippling water, 

 there was never a visible break on the 

 surface. " Do you see the rises ? " I 

 asked ; and he answered that he did not. 

 How, then, did he know when to strike ? 

 He could not tell exactly. He thought 

 it might be by noticing an almost im- 

 perceptible arrest in the movement of his 

 line, a movement caused by little more 

 than the weight of the line itself. 



I witnessed a similar marvel on the 

 pretty stream which flows past Haslemere 

 and Liphook. Day after day one of a 

 small party who were being entertained 

 by Mr. T. J. Barratt, that princely host, 

 had been catching more trout than any- 

 body else, and I went to look on at his 

 doings in the evening. "Ah, here's a 

 good fish ! " he exclaimed, striking ; and, 

 sure enough, his rod was bent and active. 



