Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-02
CHAPTER II.


sat by the bedside of the patients and fed
them with cooling fruits" She did not
at the time know anything whatever about
the treatment nursing of typhoid, but
on arrival it occurred to her to ask their
doctor if she could make herself of any.
use in these lines, and the excellent DR..
Symes had laughed immoderately.
You will soon stop the epidemic If you
do" he said. because everybody you feed
with cooling fruit will certainly die. No,
you can't help us down in the village, but
you have your work up at the house. keep
ing Lord Thurso from moping in the even
ing and making himself miserable ! am
very glad you came with him. But all day
you can amuse yourself. If l We're you
should be out of doors all l could. 1t TENDS
to tranquility.
This advice came into her head the pext
morning after Thurso had gone down TO
the village, and it was counsel which she
could easily put into practice, SINCE &C
cording to her view of the universe. the
world ESPECIALLY the world out-of-doors)
was full of delightful occupations and pur-
suits, than which there was none more en-
trancing than catching sea trout with
light rod and light tackle. And since the
river Rogan, which ran its short and defect
able course not half a mile from the lodge,
was one of the finest sea trout streams in
the country it was not difficult to follow
the doctors advice and amuse herself. She
knew nothing, of course, of the fact tnat
Thurso had let the fishing TO the American
whom he had met yesterday in the street.
and he had decided not to ask to dinner.
Thurso did not intend to come back home
for lunch today. and as the house would
be full of workmen busy shifting furniture
and making the rooms ready. under the SUI
perintendence of one of the doctors Tor me
typhoid patients. Maud went of to the
river without saying a word 10 ANYBODY,
with light and exultant heart Sandy, poor
fellow, her special fishing gillie was down
with typhoid and desperately i'll, and IN
this hay-ma king month all those who in the
autumn were stalkers or gillies Were busy
with their crofts. so she went dIone WITH
sandwich, rod and landing-net TO spend an
enchanted day.
Maud had in an extraordinary degree that
jcie-de-vivre which gilded any employment
on which she was engaged, and indeed to
go fishing for sea trout needed no gliding
X was golden to her mind already. For
hours one might cast ones fly upon the
waters, and though catching nothing never
lose the confident anticipation that one was
just going to; at any moment the swirl or
submerged strength and activity would
bend ones rod to that glorious course that
the fisherman knows to be the true ana
correct attack. Like everything else that
anybody finds to be worth doing Except
keeping accounts), mystery and romance
enveloped and Illuminated the pursuit for
her. and she walked down to the river
Thurso's headache. the typhoid, all she
was missing by not being in London, were
sponged off from her mind. True, dreadful
things might be in store for her by the
stream; to fish with big sea trout fly
might easily attract the attention OF the
sea trout s Digger cousin, ana tnSn pTODd-
bly, good-by to the light tackle. But as 1t
was certainly no fun to catch sea trout on
a salmon rod, Maud took this chance with
light heart.
The day was one of those gray days ESQ
rare in the north, where gray day means
usually east wind, which sucks the color
from land and sky), with breeze from
the southwest which makes heather ana
gorse and water all more brilliant and fra
grant than even the sunlight can and pre-
occupied though Maud was with the pros
poets of the river, her mind kept paying
little flying visits to the beauty of the
morning. Five minutes after she left the
lodge she was absolutely alone, and the
sight of neither human being nor human
habitation broke the intensesolitude of eye
and ear, which, to such as she, is so warm
and dear a companionship. For she loved
the pleasant things of the earth. the heath
and the gorse. and the close, silent
friendship of nature. unvexed and undis-
tracted by human presences. To her, as
TO st. Francis. the trees were her dear
brothers, the sky and the river her dear
sisters, and somehow also the fish she
hoped to STAY were her friends and blood
relations. She could not have explained
that feeling; she would frankly have told
you that il implied an Inconsistency; but
the fact that she hoped to kill them pro-
duced no discordant note.
which a wet May had filed from bank to
bank. She struck it at the Bridge pool,
over the rapids of which hung swaying'
airy suspension bridge, from which 1t took
Ats name. Deep water lay on the near side,
shoa! water on the other, but just beyond
the shoal water, could she but cast over 1t,
ran a little channel she knew well. where
sea trout lay So she crossed the sway
ing bridge. debating within her the ques-
tion of fly The river was high and the
sea trout would take big flies; but SO, I'M
fortunately. would the salmon. However,
she most chance that and a possible break
age-the big fly was certainly the right
s game to play
Five minutes was enough for the fixing
of her apparatus. and with the fisherman's
heart, which beats excitedly in the throat
she began casting from just underneath
the bridge. But with her longest line she
could not reach that channel of deep
water and If she did not reach that she
might we'll be fishing in wash tub:
But-there was nobody within miles-and
next minute she had Killed her skirts till
she could wade out over that stupid shoal
water and stand where with the cool,
bright water flowing near up to her knees,
yet leaving her skirt unwetted she could
reach the deeper water beyond For well
she knew what a wet skirt meant to one
who proposed to be fishing and walking
all day-nobody could strive against that
heavy clinging thing-and she waded
out she hitched it an inch or two higher.
Then for a moment she had to pause to
laugh at the figure she must be inevitably
presenting II there was any one present.
There knitted jersey for her upper
half, a cap of tweed, a much Killed skirt.
and joy in her heart Also. she could
easily cast into the coveted channel.
There was a fin and sort of gulp near
her ny, and with anOtner Sulp ner neart
came upward from her throat into her
very mouth But the owner of the fin had
missed the fly, and the owner thereof was
!. not a sea trout but salmon Then In her
the inbred sporting instinct usurped all
5 other consciousness. Light though her rod
was and light her tackle. since there was
salmon In the stream that felt an interest
q In her Jock Scott she must try to catch
him. He might break her-well, let him.
She had no gaff; very well, she must do
without.
She waded ashore, being far too wise IN
fishing lore to cast over him again at once,
preferring to wait minute or two before
she once more tempted him; and as she
gained dry land she that there was
man half way across the bridge just above
the pool. He had a fishing rod Digit also
like hers) In one hand and landing net
tucked under his arm. In any case, his rod
could not possibly refer to Thursos river,
1 and he was probably from Scarsdale. where
she knew some new people had taken the
lodge. But she gave him only the vaguest
passing thought, being far more interested
that moment in one particular fish than in
= any enc particular man, and took no fur
Their notice of him. except that she unkilted
her skirt a little showed really