352 I GO A-FISHING. 



must be glad to see the formation of clubs whose arrange- 

 ments include accommodation for the families of members. 



There is no more graceful and healthful accomplishment 

 for a lady than fly-fishing, and there is no reason why a 

 lady should not in every respect rival a gentleman in the 

 gentle art. 



Shall I ever forget a day along one of the Connecticut 

 streams, of which I have spoken in this volume, when 

 four of us — a lady, two boys, and myself — took a superb 

 basket of trout, and the lady beat us all ? What a sur- 

 prise it was when I saw her, far off across a meadow, 

 standing alone, with her light rod bending as she gave 

 the butt to a strong fish, to keep him from a last rush 

 down the rapid ! I hastened to her assistance, but it was 

 useless ; for before I reached her he lay on the grass, two 

 pounds and three quarters exactly, the noblest trout I ever 

 saw taken from a Connecticut brook. 



Make your home, therefore, as near as may be to your 

 sport, so, at the least, that you may always find it when 

 the day is done. 



I have described in this book a mountain lake, among 

 the Franconia hills, which is not known to many anglers. 

 As I approach the last pages of the volume, I recall, from 

 among a thousand scenes, with especial vividness, memo- 

 ries of that lake. I could easily tell why these memories 

 are so clear, but the reasons concern only myself, and all 

 anglers have their peculiar reasons for best loving memo- 

 ries of certain waters. 



My last day's sport one summer ended with a glorious 

 evening there. We — Dupont and myself — had recon- 

 structed two old rafts of logs and brush, which we had 

 abandoned once before as water-logged, but now found, 

 floating indeed, but so deep that it was necessary to cut 



