124 MINOR TACTICS OF THE CHALK STREAM 



covering him correctly, brought him up, and he 

 fastened. For a second he hesitated, then ripped 

 the hne from the shrieking reel in an upward 

 rush, leapt into the air, and was off. 



By this time the sun's lower limb was resting 

 on the opposite hill, and the wind should have 

 dropped dead. But still it came with a certain 

 bite of chill down the valley from the northward. 

 Yet, in spite of cold, the long, fleshy forest fly vied 

 with the mosquito in assaults upon the unpro- 

 tected portions of the angler, and moths and sedges 

 began to creep out and flit from flower to flower. 

 Two other fish putting up in the next hundred 

 yards were missed, and a small one was landed 

 and returned. Then, as dusk drew on, the fly was 

 changed for a large Orange Quill on a No. 2 hook. 



A good fish was rising steadily, though not 

 rapidly, in the next bend, but the Orange Quill, 

 offered from perhaps too short a range, set him 

 down with great suddenness. A shy fish ! So 

 was the next found rising, for he did not wait 

 even the preliminary wave of the rod to cease 

 from his impetuous and greedy feeding. Perhaps 

 the necessary wading through the boggy margin 

 to get near enough to the water for an effective 

 cast sent over him a wave that put him down. 



The next hundred yards provided no oppor- 

 tunity for the angler, but at the end of them the 

 sedgy screen ceased suddenly, and it was possible 

 to approach the shy quarry with a horizontal 



