The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-02
Sunday, September 3, 1906.

LID lIldhlng month all CQOSe VINO LII Ilo
autumn ,were stalkers or gillies were
busy with their crops, so she went
alone with sandwich, rod and landing
net to spend an enchanted day.
Maud had in an extraordinary degree
that .lole- de-vivre. which gilded any en-
ployment on which she was engaged,
a aad 5deed 9 60 fishing for fo sea It trout out
mind already. For hours one might
cast ones fly upon the waters, and tho
catching nothing never lose the conf
dent anticipation that one was just go
Ing to-; at any moment the swirl Of sub
merged strength and activity would
bend ones rod to that glorious course
that the fisherman knows to be the true
else that anybody finds to be worth do
ing Except keeping accounts), mystery
and romance enveloped and Illuminated
the pursuit for her, and as she walked
down to the river Thurso's headache,
me typhoid, all she was missing by not
pe1ng IN London, were sponged off from
her mind. True, dreadful things might
6e IN store for her by the stream; to
nsh with big sea-trout fly might east
~ attract the attention Of the sea-
tIout>s bigger cousin, and then prob
aDlY goodby to the light tackle. But
as 1T was certainly no fun to catch sea-
trout on salmon rod, Maud took this
chance with a light heart.
~ The day was one Of those gray days
$50 rare In the north, where "gray
day. means usually east wind, which
sucks the color from land and sky),
WIN breeze from the southwest which
makes heather and gorse and water all
more brilliant and fragrant than even
the sunlight can, and preoccupied tho
Maud was with the prospects Of the
river, her. mind kept paying little fy-
ing visits to the beauty of the morn
ing. Five minutes after she left the
Iodge she was absolutely alone, and the
sSlght OF neither human being nor human
habltatlon broke the intense solitude
OF eye and ear, which, to such as she.
Is so warm and dear companionship.
For she loved the pleasant THINGS Of the
earth, the heather, the gorse, and the
close, silent friendship of nature.
unvexed and undistracted by human
Presences. To her, as to st. Francis, the
trees were her dear brothers, the skv
and the river her dear sisters. and some
how also the fish she hoped to slay were
her friends and blood relations. She
could not have explained that feeling:
she would frankly have told YOU that
1t implied Inconsistency; but the fact
That she hoped to kill them produced
no d1scOrdant note
Ana here was the rushing, jubilant
r1ver, which wet May had filled from
- bank; to bank. She struck it : at the
5Brldge pool, over the: rapids of which
lung sWaylng, airy suspension bridge,
from which it took its name: Deen va,
ter lay on the near side, shoal water
on the other, but just beyond the shoal
water; could she but cast over it, ran
nttle channel she knew well, where
: sea-trout lay. So she crossed the sway
ing BRIDGE debating within her the
question of fly. The river was high
and the sea-trout would take bic flies.
put so, unfortunately, would the Salmon
however, she must chance that and \
possible breakage-the big fly was Ger.
ta1niy the right game to play > - :.
rive minutes was enough for the fix
erman 8 heart, which beats excitediv
u! II! the throat, she began casting from
just, underneath the bridge. Bit with
her longest line she could not reach that
cnanneI OF deep water; and if she did
9ob reach iI that. she might as well be
nobody within miles and next min mas
she, had killed her skirts till She
could wade out over that stupid shoal
water and stand where, with the cool
bright water flowing up to her knees
yet leaving her skirt unwetted, she
could G0 reach the deeper water beyond.
LII wen sne knew what wet skirt
meant to one who proposed to be fish
ing and walking all day-nobody could
strive against that Heavy, clinging
thing-and as she waded out she
hitched it an inch or two higher. Then
for moment she had to pause to laugh
! at the Inquire she must be inevitably
presenting if there was any one present
There was a knitted jersey for her up.
per half, cap of tweed, much-kilted
skirt, and joy in her heart. Also, she
could easily cast into the coveted chan
mel.
There was fin and a sort of onln
near her fly, and with another gulp her
heart came upward from her throat
into her very mouth. But the owner of
the fin had missed the fly, and the own
er, thereof was. not a sea -trout but a
salmon: Then in her the inbred sport
ing instinct usurped all other conscious
ness. Light tho her rod was and light
her tackle, since there was salmon
in the stream that felt an interest in
her Jock Scott she must try to catch
him Ho Y,,1rbf l,