244 A Sportsman at Large 



and be ready to open an attack on the fish, which I figured 

 would rush to enjoy the long- wait ed-f or advent of fresh water, 

 and the verminous and entomological provender which 

 would be swept down with it to the emerald sea. The water 

 near the mouth would then show a subdued tint more ap- 

 propriate to the business which I was bent upon. But our 

 meticulous plans were upset. Down came the impromptu 

 flood so precipitately that its force was exhausted in about 

 forty seconds ; though, for that brief space, it was so powerful 

 that any sea-trout venturing within the immature torrent 

 would have been swept far beyond the reach of my longest 

 cast. The affair was literally " a wash-out ! " 



But at last the long-deferred irrigations of Aquarius mate- 

 rialized ; for after a couple of days' downpour, the voe showed 

 a sort of dull pastel green tint instead of its scintillating 

 emerald hue as heretofore ; moreover, the fish in large 

 quantities were rising and " bulging " freely among the rocks, 

 close in-shore, and at the mouth of the burn. I had been 

 advised to use a hackle fly, known as the "flamingo" of a 

 brilliant scarlet ; or, alternatively, a double hook affair d la 

 Stewart tackle, having a prairie-hen wing and a silver body. 

 I suppose the latter was intended as a counterfeit presentment 

 of the ever-attractive sand eel. 



The first two fish that came my way were herling, which were 

 safely creeled. Then something big attached itself and went 

 out to sea like a torpedo, making my reel screech loudly. 



All of a sudden, down came the point of my rod, and snap- 

 swish ! It was smashed to smithereens an over-wind ! the 

 result of reprehensible carelessness in not seeing that all was 

 taut before commencing operations. I had to wade back 

 to shore, and then found that I had not a spare cast with 

 me ; so there was nothing for it but to leg it back in my waders 

 to the Hall. This meant loss of valuable time. The half 

 ebb was already a thing of the past, and soon hope would 

 be at a discount ; for the chances of good sport are limited 

 to a couple of hours when the tide is just right. 



At last I was at work again, and after having pulled out 

 another herling by the scruff of its neck, I struck something 

 which gave me an extraordinary feel. A sort of passive 



