THE MILKMAID. 4! 



her how difficult they were to hook and what rare fun they gave 

 on the fly-rod. 



" But I know where there is a big fish oh ! such a big one," 

 she said, encouragingly, putting particular emphasis on the word 

 " big." " I often see him when the water is low and clear. 1 call 

 him my trout, but if you like you may try to catch him." 



" Come ! " she continued, before I had time to thank her, " and 

 I will show you where he lies." 



I followed my goddess across the fair, green pasture ; a few 

 lines of Gray's " Elegy " running through my mind, whilst, wrapt 

 in admiration of her marvellous beauty, her elegant figure and the 

 charming frankness of her manner, I followed whither she led. 

 Sky-larks soared and sang to the wind and the hills ; other song- 

 sters poured forth their melodies, making the valley re-echo with 

 their joyful paeans. And overhead huge fleecy clouds sailed through 

 the azure of infinite space. 



" Is this trout very large ? " at length I ventured to ask. "If 

 he is, I fear he will not look at a fly." 



" Oh ! he often catches flies," was the ready rejoinder. " Some- 

 times I watch him jumping up at them for ever so long." 



Presently we crossed the stream by a picturesque, rustic 

 foot-bridge ; and, turning sharply to the left, entered a meadow that 

 skirted the water. Here a long line of willows overhung the 

 stream, and we passed down by the side of these until we neared a 

 small opening, when my guide stepped back a few yards into the 

 meadow motioning me to do likewise and approached the bank 

 again at a point above which she knew the trout would be lying. 



" There ! " she exclaimed. " There he is. There's my trout ; 

 isn't he a beauty ? " 



I looked, and, when my eyes became accustomed to peering 

 through the water, I beheld a lusty trout over three pounds 

 I estimated his weight to be basking in a somewhat awkward 

 though not altogether impossible position beneath the willows. 

 Although still doubting that he would rise to a fly, I quickly 

 formulated a plan of operations, deciding it were better to retrace 



