268 TROUT FISHING 



of them tooboolar-steel telescopic poles, 

 calc'lated fit for tarpon, instead of 

 this five -ounce proposition? A Dago, 

 William F. — that's the kind of hair- 

 pin You are ! " It was touch-and-go 

 with the whustler. Within a time which 

 must have been short though it did 

 not seem so, he rolled himself beyond 

 the point, on the hither side of the 

 sandbank, that was in a straight line 

 with the southern bank of the river, 

 and was once more in the motionless 

 water of the loch. Along the shore 

 he cruised, slowly, silently, and, I think, 

 sadly. He may have been seeking for 

 some definite thing. Ronald and the 

 Minister thought so. On the other hand, 

 he may have been dazed a little, and 

 wandering at random. That was my 

 belief. At any rate, it is not customary 

 for a salmon to move into a brook in 

 spring. That is what the whustler did. 

 Coming to the mouth of a burn not more 

 than three feet wide, he paused a moment 

 as if pondering, and wriggled up. 



