278 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



/'Well keep the peace noo, I think," 

 said he, soothingly; "but just fill the 

 glasses, John, lad apologisin' is oot o' 

 the question. I never think o' ca'in' for't, 

 or allooin' it. To tell the truth : At this 

 stage on sic occasions I aye seem for the 

 time to see that I mysel' am the chief 

 offender. O' the twa views o' poachin' 

 yours and mine yours is the maist com- 

 monly held. There's nae doobt o' that." 



He paused ; gazed meditatively into 

 the fire for a few seconds ; and then 

 began again. Like his other openings, 

 the new one was of a nature wholly 

 unexpected. 



"But it is not always the common 

 opinion that is right," he said, snapping 

 the words out with an earnestness that 

 was startling. " No : not even though 

 it be the opinion which all persons, all 

 parties, and all classes hold. You see," 

 he went on, less emphatically, "I read a 

 good deal, and often, being a lonely man, 

 I sit and think about what I have read ; 

 and that, no doubt for the same reason, 



