118 TROUT FISHING 



" They were in me ould book," he said, 

 quite simply, though very happy. " I 

 had them when I came to these parts 

 with Mr. Erskine Wemyss, contesting 

 the county at the time of the Reform 

 Bill. I thought they might be a bit 

 weak by this time ; but they're none so 

 bad, after all." 



This was suggestive ; and a very little 

 thought led to one's seeing things which, 

 although they had been daily before the 

 very eyes of all frequenters of the stream, 

 had been completely unnoticed. It was 

 not only midges that were about. All 

 over the water large flies of many hues, 

 with here and there a buzzing column 

 of alders, were fluttering. The old 

 gentleman's day on the river was full 

 of marvellous sport simply because, 

 using large flies, he had followed 

 an old tradition suggested by Nature, 

 instead of following the precepts of the 

 ironmonger. 



It may have chanced that, besides 

 being of the right size, his flies were of 



