FISHING 165 



After all the rain we have had, we thought we 

 would try a little fishing in the big pond, where 

 one can always see great mouths opening for flies 

 on the top of the water. We each held a rod out 

 patiently for hours, with a hook at the end on 

 which was an enticing pellet of bread and cheese, 

 but never a bite did any of us get, though we could 

 see the fish disporting as usual. We then tried 

 worms, but with no better result. We had four or 

 five servants waiting to bring bait, or to carry in 

 the fish ; but it ended in their only taking in the 

 empty rods. 



"I will have those fish," said the C. S., "in a 

 net, to-morrow morning." So we all uprose very 

 early, and watched the men dragging the pond. 

 The C. S. did indeed get his fish. One weighed 

 10 Ibs. ; two more, exactly a pair, each weighed 21 

 Ibs. ; and many more were a very respectable size, 

 while numbers were thrown back again. So the 

 fish were there all right, only we could not catch 

 them. We have heard since, that they require 

 snails as bait. The servants revelled in their fish 

 dinner that day. We tried one ourselves and it 

 was very good indeed, but somewhat solid. It was 



