184 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



if he should not be noticing the time, he 

 was sure to be home for his dinner, at 

 eleven o'clock. O, well, we would set 

 forth without Donald. . . . By and by, 

 from the boat, I caught sight of a tall 

 and erect figure walking with remarkable 

 rapidity along a path through the wood- 

 lands which skirt the loch. "That's 

 Donald," Haxton said. We drew ashore, 

 and Donald came cheerfully aboard. He 

 gave some explanation of his being late ; 

 but I did not hear it. I was preoccupied 

 with the fact that this very youthful 

 gillie was on the verge of 'his eightieth 

 year. All day, joking and laughing and 

 chatting, he was- as keen on the sport as 

 if he had been a schoolboy. The eastern 

 half of the loch was catching the full 

 force of the wind, which was high, and it 

 must have been by no small strength that 

 the boat was kept under control ; but the 

 eastern half, Donald thought, was where 

 the best trout were likely to be rising, 

 and consequently it had the drifts we 

 must " stick to." He spared no effort ; 



