KINSHIP WITH THE ARTS 3 



Patience, which so many persons sup- 

 pose to be the necessary qualification, is 

 certainly required ; but it is not a thought- 

 less or inactive patience. It is not merely 

 willingness to wait for an hour, or two 

 hours, or a whole day, watching for an 

 indication that the lure has proved attrac- 

 tive. Patience of that kind has but a 

 small part in the sport. The befitting 

 patience is more than a lazy or stoical 

 endurance. It is continually alert. It 

 embraces much more knowledge and a 

 much greater resourcefulness of thought 

 than are commonly imagined. It is a 

 state of mind more complex than that 

 which is necessary to success in any other 

 pursuit on flood or field. 



Contrast it, for example, with that in 

 which one goes out to seek grouse. In- 

 stead of having to be lured, the birds are 

 waiting to be shot. Approaching the 

 trout is an action much subtler than 

 walking with a gamekeeper to a place 

 where the grouse are resting. On the 

 grouse-moor a single type of cartridge, 



