l6o I CO A -FISHING. 



rise, followed by a heavy pull, indicated that some animal 

 had it. I don't know what it was. It is not probable 

 that I ever shall know. I did not see the animal. I never 

 saw my tail fly again. Probably it was a fish ; and prob- 

 ably, with a sagacity truly astonishing, he took a round 

 turn with my leader around a root of the maple, to pre- 

 vent my getting the advantage of him on a pull. What- 

 ever course he pursued, he was successful ; for when I 

 gave it up, and pulled a steady, strong pull, I got nothing. 

 My line came up without a tail fly, and I replaced it, and 

 tried again on the same hole. Would you believe it, the 

 result was exactly the same again ! — a rise, a rush, a round 

 turn, a reasonable and patient delay, then I paid out, 

 threw the slack over my shoulder and, taking the line in 

 my hand, drew gently, stronger, stronger yet, and up came 

 the leader without the fly or trout. The pool was inac- 

 cessible, or this need not have occurred. But I could not 

 get to it to sound it, and so I tried a third fly, and cast a 

 third time. Sir, it was a school of trout, where they were 

 taught to outwit fishermen. I never saw that fly either. 

 I waited ten minutes, hoping that the trout would suppose 

 I was gone and cast off his fast. But no. He had prob- 

 ably found a trout-surgeon to extract the hook, while I 

 stood there waiting, and I broke the leader, reeled up my 

 line, and sought an open field where the fish were less 

 knowing. 



The grass was just sprouting in the meadow into which 

 the stream debouched from the morass, and I threw over 

 a ripple below a fall. The second or third cast was 

 successful, and I lifted a very decent fish, weighing say 

 three quarters of a pound. I took another out of the 

 same ripple, and then followed the stream downward. 



They seemed to be lying in pairs in all the favorable 



