Il6 I GO A -FISHING. 



small scarlet ibis. The first cast made with this new 

 bank, as some men call the arrangement, cost me the 

 scarlet fly. A large fish took the dropper, and at the 

 same instant another struck the ibis. They headed in 

 opposite directions, and the very stroke of the two parted 

 the slender thread. I landed but one on that cast, and 

 only once after that had two at the same time, and then 

 saved them both. 



The sport continued good till about one o'clock, and 

 then ceased. The breeze rippled the water, the flies were 

 increasing in number in the warm sunshine, but feeding 

 time was over and the fish went down. I have seen the 

 same thing often on other waters. 



The object of the expedition was accomplished. There 

 were trout in the lake — they would rise to the fly. Over 

 a dozen beautiful large fish, and nearly another dozen 

 which ran below a half pound each, were fair evidence of 

 the contents of this water. Six of the smaller fish had 

 been taken with bait by my friend, the sawyer. He had 

 cut a birch rod, and with hook and line which I sup- 

 plied, and the fin of a trout for bait, which he kept con- 

 stantly moving near the bottom of the lake, he had cap- 

 tured a half-dozen fair-sized fish. 



So we left the raft to drift toward the leeward side of 

 the lake, and started for the log house in the clearing ; 

 and thence, carrying heavy weight, we trudged over the 

 hills to the home of my friend of the mill. 



It is one of the most pleasant incidents, not uncommon 

 either, in the life of a roving angler, to find the hospitality 

 of a warm American country home. There is no other 

 country in the world where such incidents can happen, 

 for nowhere else are there outlying farms and homes in 

 the forest, in which one can meet with that measure of 



