JUNE 147 



excuse is that you are at a disadvantage 

 when your first care is to prevent en- 

 tanglement of the line with the oars. 

 This handicap, of course, was quickly 

 removed. Now that we were among 

 rising trout, the trolling lines were 

 hastily reeled in ; and soon three fly- 

 rods were at work. That was about 

 one o'clock. 



All went well thereafter. Soon my 

 companions and the boatmen, all of 

 whom had been slily charring at my 

 theory about the weather, were smiling 

 in another mode. Until six o'clock, when 

 it was time to return to the pier, we were 

 never very long without need for the 

 services of a boatman and the landing- 

 net. In the middle of the afternoon the 

 less youthful gillie remembered that he 

 had often known brisk sport in bright 

 sunshine and a smart breeze ! He was 

 quite honest. The explanation is that 

 acceptance of tradition had temporarily 

 obscured facts within his knowledge. 

 The average angler's belief in cloud is 



