130 TROUT FISHING 



the trouble of the first fish may conceiv- 

 ably be not manifest to the other, or not 

 interpretable by him, this counts for little ; 

 but what are we to make of the otter ? 



The otter is a gear, now forbidden by 

 the law, taking a line of gut from which 

 depend two or three dozen flies, each about 

 a foot apart from its neighbours, far out 

 on a river or on a lake. As the poacher, 

 with one end of the line in hand, moves 

 along the shore, the otter-board, which is 

 constructed on the principle of the kite, 

 moves onward too, and outward ; just as 

 the kite foUows the hoUday-making school- 

 boy, and soars at the pressure of the wind. 

 Soon the poacher feels a tugging at the 

 line, and knows that one of the flies has 

 been taken by a trout ; but he does not 

 reel up. On he moves, and soon there is 

 a fresh tugging, and soon, he thinks, 

 another ; but after that he is not sure how 

 his adventure fares. There may be new 

 tuggings; but they cannot be distinguished 

 amid the old ones. He can tell nothing, 

 either, by the weight of the line : besides 



