112 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



striking the water fairly, it swirled round 

 the corners of the crag, and threw the 

 ripples into a jumble. Yes : the sky was 

 rather dull; but what of that? Clouds 

 were very favourable on Loch-na- Craig. 



It turned out that there was more 

 than the spirit of Mark Tapley in James's 

 counsels. The basket held two trout, 

 each of them about 1 lb., before we had 

 been quarter of an hour afloat. That 

 seemed to foretell a creditable creel at 

 the close 1 



Alas, the wind suddenly fell when the 

 fly was being disengaged from the second 

 fish. The sleet and the cold continued ; 

 but the atmosphere was still. It was not 

 so for long. Soon wind came with a roar 

 round the northern end of the crag, and 

 the loch was seething white. I dare say 

 that if we could have heard anything but 

 the squall we should have heard thunder 

 also. Now, a thunderstorm does not 

 invariably put the trout down ; on the 

 contrary, it frequently brings them up. 

 They lie low when thunder is approach- 



