OLD JOHN, TIM, & OTHERS 147 



conscious that there was humour in his 

 words ; but perhaps he was conscious also 

 that the humour lay in a truth which they 

 contained. At any rate, he should have 

 been. A day is "really good" when it 

 bears comparison with the best ; and what 

 was that ? Was it not a day when from 

 morning until the night trout rose at the 

 flies so well that the basket was limited 

 only by the frequent need to spend five 

 or six minutes, sometimes more, in play- 

 ing one, with now and then an interval 

 for the setting right of a tangled cast ? 

 There is, and always may be, such a day 

 as that. Happily, it is not so infrequent 

 on other lakes as Old John found it on 

 Lochleven ; and it must be known to 

 most anglers whose good fortune has en- 

 abled them to give lake-fishing a fair trial. 

 Why, having come once, does it not often 

 repeat itself ? 



The answer, I think, will be suggested 

 if, in the chapters on Wind, Light, and 

 Temperature, I have succeeded in the 

 endeavour to show that the atmospherical 



