74 GOLDEN DAYS 



of worm-fishing, we would answer : 

 " Come with us, and watch Jean Pierre." 

 Surely this fishing has a tempting variety, 

 a change of methods. It is pleasant to 

 see our line travelling down between over- 

 hanging banks in the rushing current. 

 Suddenly the line stops. We feel that 

 slight but unmistakable tremor that elec- 

 trifies our rod-point, and passes on to our 

 hand for the moment before we strike. A 

 trout is actually in negotiation with our 

 small red worm. Can we but strike in 

 that fraction of time between the "too 

 soon " and the " too ]a\:e," the fish is 

 hooked. But in this water and on such 

 fine tackle the capture of even a well- 

 hooked fish is by no means a foregone 

 conclusion. He may dash up or down 

 stream and entangle the cast in a dozen 

 traps along the bank. In any case he will 

 fight furiously, splashing in peril on the 

 surface ; only is he ours when he lies well 

 back from the streamlet's brim on his terse 

 grown heather bed. 



Perhaps the most brilliant of Jean 

 Pierre's achievements at the brook-side is 

 dapping. For this purpose he uses a short 



