100 TROUT FISHING 



We remember the very moment when it 

 came sleet-strewn from the north. It died 

 down while we were seated at luncheon 

 under that old oak on the meadow 

 near the farmhouse. Then the light 

 clouds slowly thickened until the whole 

 sky was slaty-gray ; and about seven 

 o'clock, just when the evening rise should 

 have come on, the sun flared out angrily 

 among storm - clouds scarlet and green 

 and yellow. All the time scarcely a 

 trout would rise. Now, not one prin- 

 ciple of angling, but a whole series of 

 principles, naturally springs from the ob- 

 servations of an unfortunate day such as 

 that. The series is, That trout do not 

 rise when the wind is shifty ; that the 

 northerly breeze, especially with sleet on 

 its wings, is bad ; that a languid after- 

 noon following a fresh morning is worse ; 

 and that sport is altogether out of the 

 question when the heavens at sundown 

 are on fire. The consequence is that 

 when one falls upon such a day again one 

 either puts the rod into its case or uses it 



