g6 ANGLING 



boat, but, bowing to Witchdorter's superior knowledge and 

 wisdom in riverside expressions, he followed what he thought 

 was Witchdorter's word, and over and over again has referred 

 to the weighing boat. Mr. Hopper had certainly pondered 

 over in his mind several times why it was a weigh ing" boat 

 it was certainly big enough to weigh almost anything. It 

 would carry a load of corn and three horses across the river, 

 a drove of cattle, a flock of sheep, a crowd of people at fair 

 time they all weighed a lot and therefore Mr. 'Hopper 

 thought it was a weighing boat, and accordingly he repeats 

 once more alas for human infirmity! Witchdorter politely 

 writes Mr. Hopper as follows : " By the way re fishing notes 

 Why weighing boat, instead of wain boat? Hope Mrs. 

 Hopper is first-rate!" Mrs. Hopper is not first-rate on the 

 contrary, she is much depressed at the idea of Mr. Hopper 

 being caught tripping in his spelling in fact she now insists 

 that one of the principal reasons she consented to marry Mr. 

 Hopper nearly a quarter of a century ago was, because he 

 spelt so nicely in all the letters he wrote to her during courtship, 

 and now, at one fell swoop from Witchdorter, her fond dream 

 is dissipated in fact, her connubial happiness in the future will 

 constantly be jeopardised (that's a good word Mr. Commodore 

 Helterton) by the risk of discovering further frailties in Mr. 

 Hopper she had not thought him subject to. Mr. Hopper has 

 taken down his most recent edition of Dixon's Johnsonary and 

 he there finds the following definition of " wain," a wagon, a 

 carriage for the transportation of goods on wheels, a con- 

 stellation, Charles o' Wain ; " Wain-bote," timber for wagons 

 or carts. Witchdorter may be right, but Mr. Hopper desires 

 to point out to him not only the spelling of " Wain-bote," but 

 also that the large ferry boat is not on wheels, on the contrary 

 " it swimmeth the water like a thing of life," and is not a wagon 

 or carriage but still Mr. Hopper grovels and eats humble pie 

 because Witchdorter may be right and he (Mr. Hopper) may 

 be wrong. 



W T ild-goose chases! well, rather, just a few? What angler 

 has not been on such expeditions when seeking fresh fields 



