166 TROUT FISHING 



" What's air, Dagonet ? " I asked. 



"Air — the word, that is — comes from 

 the root niN, aoor, Hebrew and Chaldee ; 

 which means, to shine. The sense is to 

 open, to expand; whence clear; or to flow, 

 to shoot, to radiate. Air — the thing, I 

 mean — is inodorous, invisible, insipid, 

 colourless, elastic, possessed of gravity, 

 easily moved and rarefied and condensed. 

 In short, my boy, air is the fluid which 

 we breathe to live." 



" Quite so ; but what does a fellow 

 mean when he says, ' There's air ! ' ? " 



" Obscure in origin," said Dagonet 

 gravely. Certain philologists hold that 

 the words were uttered by Mr. Gladstone 

 when he first gazed upon the atmospherical 

 amenities of Blackpool, or those of any 

 other hoUday resort anxious to have itself 

 made dear to the people." 



" Well ; but why do men keep firing 

 the words at you in London ? " 



Dagonet laughed, and unbent. 



"O! thev're a mere catch-phrase of 

 the Town.' 



