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was not the case, how would your family, proud as it is, sanction your marriage with a simple country clergyman's daughter, who has neither beauty nor fortune, nor an ancient pedigree to make up the deficiency?"

I committed all sorts of extravagancies: I said I would seek her father; he at all events would be reasonable-for at that moment I could not admit the truth of what she had said; but there was about her that quiet decision of manner which made me insensibly give way to her. Yielding then to her entreaties that I would leave her, I took my departure, subdued in spirit, but still with a lurking hope that my love was returned.

I promised myself to see her early the next day, but something detained me until the evening. On going to the entrance I found it lockedan unusual circumstance, but I took no particular heed it being late; as I rang the bell the servant opened the door, and I was walking in when she said, "Please, Sir, the Doctor and my young mistress are gone to London; but Miss Rachel is at home."

"Gone to London ?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, Sir, and Miss Mary has left this note for you, with which I was just stepping over to the Grove."

I snatched the letter out of her hand, tore it open, and was beginning to read it by the light of the hall lamp. I could not distinguish the letters, all was chaos and confusion as the paper danced before my eyes. Commanding my voice as best I could, I desired my apologies to be made to dear old aunt Rachel, and once more retraced my steps home. Arrived there, I shut myself up in my room, and with a beating heart again endeavoured to read the contents of my letter:

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My father having been unexpectedly summoned to London this morning on important business, I determined to accompany him, and at the same time accept an invitation to pass a few weeks with my aunt at Brighton; so that when I return, dear Percy, you will no longer be at Donnington. In tearing myself away without the consolation of seeing you once more, I have consulted your real interest, and shown more true and sincere affection than at the moment of reading this you will allow. It would be ruin for you to shackle your career ere it has commenced, even if you were quite sure of your own feelings. Turn your thoughts then away from me: you will find it easier than you think when thrown in other scenes. Think of me only as a brother, and let me occupy that place in your heart reserved for a favourite sister: remember she will ever rejoice in your welfare, grieve for your sorrows, and follow your footsteps through life with an anxious heart, trusting that years hence we may meet again, when you will be better able to appreciate the sacrifice I have now made. M. W.

"P.S. You will not, I trust, reject the accompanying seal as a souvenir of an act that has left upon father and daughter a not less enduring impression than will be found upon the stone itself; and while your gift of the bracelet remains a sad memento of our lost favourite, may this recall to your mind the gratitude I feel for the kind thought that enables me to possess so interesting a relic of the past."

Whether we ever did meet again, as she predicted, will be fully developed in the course of this narrative; in the mean time, suffice it to say, other scenes and other feelings did soon take possession of me; nevertheless few have been stronger, none purer than this first serious love. It sleeps in my memory as the moon-beam on a lake.

THE SCIENCE OF THE ROD.

BY RAMROD.

(Continued.)

Trolling or spinning the minnow is a most destructive mode of angling. In this way you rarely take small fish, though occasionally I have caught them no larger than the bait I had on my hook; but it is mostly only the large fish that run at the minnow, consequently it affords excellent sport, especially in small streams, and at the beginning of the season, before the water becomes too fine: it is my practice then to fish all the water-courses, mill-streams, &c., that run into the rivers, and I frequently get first-rate sport and a good basket, without touching upon the main-streams. I recollect the year before last killing a trout in one of such places which weighed three pounds-and-a-half; and on the same day I killed many other good fish. In the spring they leave the heavy water to scour themselves after spawning, and take to the smaller streams, consequently they are not in the first order. Trout are never in prime condition till they have had some May-flies; but rivers vary greatly in this way, the fish in some becoming in season much sooner than in others, and this even where rivers run one into the other; for instance, the Lug and Hendwell or Endwell* streams, running through Radnorshire and Herefordshire; in the first-named river they are in season long before they are in the latter, even at the mouth, where it empties itself into the Lug. I have taken trout of the Hendwell as pink as salmon, but never so out of the Lug: I suppose the cause of this is the soil it runs over.

There are numerous modes of making trolling tackle, but the following is no doubt the best. I have adopted it for many years, and have always found it to succeed:

Take two lengths of strong clear gut, one rather longer than the other; to the shortest whip a No. 1 hook; to the other attach two triangles of three hooks, which may be bought at the shops ready soldered together, one about two inches above the other; then get a leaden cap, which likewise may be procured at the tackle shops, and slip the two ends through it, and draw up the gut with the large hook till the top of the shank lies alongside the uppermost triangle; knot the hanks together with a double knot, and cut off one end; the other must be fastened to a swivel, to which join two more lengths of gut, and then another swivel, and the whole is complete. You can either fasten your line to the swivel, or have another strong hank of gut attached to it; the latter is I think the best plan.

* As the people of Herefordshire have a way of smothering the "h" where it should be used, and putting it where it should not be, it is difficult to say which is the proper name, but I am told the old maps have it Hendwell.

To bait, proceed thus:-Take a middling-sized minnow, put the large hook in at the mouth and out through the lower lip, draw the gut through a little way, and run the hook in at the mouth again, and down the body, close to the back-bone, bringing it out at the tail; should it not spin well, move it about with the thumb and finger till it does; the cap goes over the head and breaks the force of the water.

Be sure that the triangles lie close down by the side of the bait, which they will play round; the object of them being to take fish which run short. I have frequently killed a good dish of trout, not one of which had touched the minnow.

Some persons, instead of running the hook through the lip, put it through the right gill, but in this way it does not spin so well, added to which, a minnow put on according to the first-mentioned plan, lasts much longer, as in the event of the hold breaking in the lip, it may then be put through the gill, and if a fish should (as they frequently do) drive the bait up the line, it may be pulled down again without injury to the minnow, which would not be done if it were baited through the gill.

Should it not spin well at first, the cause may be the gut being stiff, but this will improve as it is used, or a little friction with a piece of India-rubber will set it right.

The minnow must he thrown underhanded, and by raising the arm, as it meets the water, it will fall lightly, and not make a splash; if it does it will scare the fish: a little practice will enable you to throw to a nicety under bushes and banks, where the best fish are always to be found. As soon as your bait is in the water, begin drawing it at one unvaried pace down stream up stream, and across, according to the place you are fishin. If a fish comes at your minnow, do not stop, but draw it into a rough part of the stream, there he will probably take it, and if so, let him; roll in the tackle, and he will hook himself well.

Keep your bait in anything but tin or metal; and before using them put them for a little time in bran, which will have the effect of hardening them, and they will last longer. When unable to procure minnows I have instead used bull-heads; they are a good substitute, as are also small trout.

The best artificial minnow is that made of India-rubber, which really succeeds as well as the natural one; it is made by Mr. Flynn, of Worcester, and the price of it is three shillings and sixpence.

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There is a thing called the kill-devil, which is made of silver twist, and red silk, whipped round a bit of lead, and which will kill fish when the water is rather discoloured; it has the advantage over the artificial minnow, as it spins better. I imagine the fish take it for one of the hairy caterpillars. In a small brook that was just clearing after rain, I once killed a great quantity of trout with the kill-devil, but I could never succeed with it in clear streams.

Your rod for trolling should be about seventeen feet long, though for small rivers a shorter one would be better, and as light as possible, neither too pliant nor too stiff; if it is too pliant you will never hook your fish, and if it is too stiff it will strain the mouth, so as to run the risk of breaking the hold: it should have rings whipped on rather closer than they are for fly-fishing, and they should be stronger and larger.

In the Lug and Hendwell, especially towards the upper parts, the fish run better at the minnow than in any streams I know, and in a little

brook called Cascob brook, which runs into the former, I have had firstrate sport.

The Lug rises in the parish of Llangunlo in Radnorshire, and runs through the vale of Presteigne, by Leominster, in Herefordshire, and falls into the Wye at Mordiford. Salmon occasionally come up, but not often, as there is a mill at the mouth of the river which stops them; if it was not for this there would be as many in the Lug as there are in the Wye, and it is to be regretted that some steps are not taken to remove the obstruction.

The trout and greyling in the Lug are very superior, especially the latter, which in my opinion are equal to the Team fish. In the waters belonging to Shobdon Court, the seat of Lord Bateman, and Boutibook, the residence of Sir Harford Brydges, they run to a great size.

Boulker mentions the largest greyling ever caught was taken at Ludlow in Shropshire; it weighed four pounds-and-a-half, and was half a yard long. I imagine it could not have been in season, otherwise, according to the length, it would have weighed more.

The greyling is best in season from November till January, and when so, the head and gills are a blueish black, and the back of a dusky green: they spawn in April and May. With the whirling blue, the pale blue, and the willow fly, excellent sport may be had in September, October, and November, especially if the water is fine. The greyling rises much freer than the trout, and provided he does not feel the hook, will rise several times; when hooked they must be handled lightly, as their mouths are very tender, and easily torn.

When first taken out of the water they have a peculiar smell, but which leaves them almost immediately; it is said to be occasioned by their feeding upon the water-thyme, but this I very much doubt.

Since I began this article I have heard of a trout having been taken near Presteigne weighing two pounds and-a-half, and the person who took it, at the same time saw another, which he is persuaded was double the size. I am glad to hear it, and if the gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood carry out their intention of establishing a fishing club, I have no hesitation in saying that there will not be better fishing anywhere than in that portion of the Lug. The water is the prettiest I know, and is suited both for trolling and fly-fishing. I can look back to many pleasant hours spent upon its banks-hours that have long since passed their like perhaps never to be again.

It will well repay the visiter to Presteigne to go to Kinsham Court, one of the loveliest spots under the sun. It is situated about three miles from the town, close to the river Lug, which it overlooks. The view from the terrace, as it is termed, bears a strong resemblance, in miniature, to Switzerland. Here the lover of the picturesque will find an endless store of pleasure, the geologist a field for his researches-as the immediate neighbourhood is rich in fossil remains-and the angler can "tempt the trout ""by throwing nice, judging the delusive fly." Kinsham belongs to Mr. Evelyn. The house has not been inhabited for some years, which is a source of regret in the neighbourhood, and it is now much out of repair. It is a very favourite spot for pic-nics, and parties come there from a great distance for the purpose of fishing, eating, and love-making-amusements that are frequently united.

To keep your fish either for use, or if you want them for a present, to

make them look well, proceed thus-put amongst them dock-leaves (never grass, as it ferments), allowing one between each fish, and as soon as you have concluded your day's amusement, turn them all out of the basket, and in the river wash them well, taking care not to handle them more than is absolutely necessary; as soon as that is done, replace them in the basket, with a fresh supply of leaves, and when you reach home lay the fish on a stone floor, not allowing them to touch each other, and turn over them a tub.

There are two things which nine cooks out of ten fail in doing well, namely, boiling potatoes and frying fish, and yet they both appear to be simple accomplishments. The whole secret in frying fish well is to allow the dripping in which they are fried to boil in the pan before placing in it the fish; if this is not the case they are always sodden, and consequently, in my opinion, not eatable; a trout well fried and badly fried are as different as "chalk and cheese." I have no doubt most of our cooks would be above being taught by me, but I can assure them what I have written is correct. "The proof of the pudding is the eating of it," say I. Let those who doubt me, and have cooks, or cook for themselves, put it to the proof. When a trout reaches a pound, he is good boiled, and if well boiled, is exquisite.

Be careful not to put the fish into the water till it boils, in which a large handful of salt should be dissolved, and as soon as it is done sufficiently (which will be, if of the size I have mentioned, in ten minutes), serve it up.

If I have to send fish any great distance, I always have them cleaned and gutted, and packed in clean dry straw.

Greyling should never be carried, as they will not bear it; indeed some persons are of opinion that to eat them in perfection they should be cooked the instant they come out of the water.

son.

I understand there are great numbers of salmon in the rivers this seaAt Rhayoder, on the Wye, a quantity have been taken, and many of them good fish; they were mostly killed by the people with the spear, which would not signify, if they confined the operation to the time when the fish are in season, but unfortunately such is not the case, as they follow it up all through the year, consequently numerous salmon are destroyed which are totally unfit to be eaten.

In the north they have commenced the season well, many very large takes having been effected; and now that the railways afford such facility of communication, a great trade in fish is carried on with London, Birmingham, Liverpool, &c.

For instance, near Perth, last week, a great number were captured one evening, next morning they were in Billingsgate! At Leominster and Ludlow, last year, herrings brought from the Isle of Man were selling at a cheaper rate than some brought from Aberystwith, a distance of only seventy miles, a pretty good proof of the beneficial effect of the rail. Your rod for salmon fishing should be about seventeen to twenty yards long, according to the stream you are going to fish, and your reel a large one, as you will require a great quantity of line, which must be strong, and having a cast-line attached, of about ten or twelve yards, made of hair, and gradually tapering to the point; to this you put your gut, bottom flies, &c. The salmon will take all the trout-flies if they be made large, but the dragon and king-fisher are the principal flies in use. The

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