THE LIGHT 97 



may be, the really important considera- 

 tion is that, unless, indeed, there be some- 

 times a mirage athwart the clouds such as 

 there is occasionally in the desert, the 

 surface of the water, seen from below, can 

 never have any glare at all. From above, 

 a river or a lake is a mirror, reflecting the 

 skies and all that in them is, as well as 

 upstanding objects on the shores ; but 

 from below it is no more a mirror than is 

 a sheet of glass without a backing of 

 silver. Thus, none of the phenomena of 

 light which disturb the angler are in the 

 consciousness of the trout at all. To 

 them, saving amid the exceptional circum- 

 stances for which we have made provisional 

 allowance, there is no glare, howsoever 

 fiercely the sun may blaze ; no lane of 

 light, even when their glance is eastward 

 at the dawn ; they never see on the surface 

 the blue reflection of the undimmed sky, 

 or the dingy-yellow of the snow-storm, 

 or the inky -purple of the thunder- 

 cloud. 



Are we to conclude, then, that the 



7 



