KINSHIP WITH THE ARTS 13 



fish were coming quickly enough : what 

 could be the matter with Charlie ? I 

 looked round to see ; and saw. Charlie 

 was throwing a very long line, which 

 went out upon the water so gently that 

 the fall of the flies was not perceptible ; 

 but the instant after, holding the rod in 

 his right hand, with the left he pulled in 

 the line, two arm's lengths, as fast as 

 his arm could move. Involuntarily, I 

 expressed astonishment. " Teach your 

 grandmother," he answered. My learned 

 friend spoke the words good-humouredly ; 

 but they undoubtedly meant that he 

 knew what he was doing. I did not dare 

 to say more about Charlie's error ; but I 

 doubt not that it sprang from his having 

 once hooked a trout when reeling in his 

 line, or when the flies were out as a boat 

 was being rowed ashore or towards some 

 fresh drift. However this may be, that 

 day Charlie caught a trout only when 

 one rose at the moment of his flies alight- 

 ing : he never had a rise during the jerk- 

 ing process. Trout do occasionally take 



