There was an old barometer of the banjo type in the parlour of the White
House, which, whatever might have been its character for veracity in
former days, had now become such an inveterate story-teller, that it was
pretty safe to accept as true, exactly the reverse of what it indicated.
One evening Mr Sudberry kept tapping that antique and musical-looking
instrument, with a view to get it to speak out its mind freely. The
worthy man's efforts were not in vain, for the instrument, whether out
of spite or not, we cannot say, indicated plainly "much rain."
Now, it must be known that Mr Sudberry knew as much about trout and
salmon-fishing as that celebrated though solitary individual, "the man
in the moon." Believing that bright, dry, sunny weather was favourable
to this sport, his heart failed him when the barometer became so
prophetically depressed, and he moved about the parlour with quick,
uneasy steps, to the distress of his good wife, whose work-box he twice
swept off the table with his coat-tails, and to the dismay of George,
whose tackle, being spread out for examination, was, to a large extent,
caught up and hopelessly affixed to the same unruly tails.
Supper and repose finally quieted Mr Sudberry's anxious temperament;
and when he awoke on the following morning, the sun was shining in
unclouded splendour through his window. Awaking with a start, he
bounced out of bed, and, opening his window, shouted with delight that
it was a glorious fishing-day.
The shout was addressed to the world at large, but it was responded to
only by Hobbs.
"Yes, sir, it _is_ a hexquisite day," said that worthy; "what a day for
the Thames, sir! It does my 'art good, sir, to think of that there
river."
Hobbs, who was standing below his master's window, with his coat off,
and his hands in his waistcoat-pockets, meant this as a happy and
delicate allusion to things and times of the past.
"Ah! Hobbs," said Mr Sudberry, "you don't know what fishing in the
Highlands is, yet; but you shall see. Are the rods ready?"
"Yes, sir."
"And the baskets and books?"
"Yes, sir."
"And, ah! I forgot--the flasks and sandwiches--are they ready, and the
worms?"
"Yes, sir; Miss Lucy's a makin' of the san'wiches in the kitchen at this
moment, and Maclister's a diggin' of the worms."
Mr Sudberry shut his window, and George, hearing the noise, leaped out
of bed with the violence that is peculiar to vigorous youth. Fred
yawned.
"What a magnificent day!" said George, rubbing his hands, and slapping
himself preparatory to ablutions; "I will shoot."
"Will you--a-ow?" yawned Fred: "I shall sketch. I mean to begin with
the old woman's hut."
"What! do you mean to have your nose plucked off and your eyes torn out
at the beginning of our holiday?"
"Not if I can help it, George; but I mean to run the risk--I mean to
cultivate that old woman."
"Hallo! hi!" shouted their father from below, while he tapped at the
window with the end of a fishing-rod. "Look alive there, boys, else
we'll have breakfast without you."
"Ay, ay, father!" Fred was up in a moment.
About two hours later, father and sons sallied out for a day's sport,
George with a fowling-piece, Fred with a sketch-book, and Mr Sudberry
with a fishing-rod, the varnish and brass-work on which, being perfectly
new, glistened in the sun.
"We part here, father," said George, as they reached a rude bridge that
spanned the river about half a mile distant from the White House. "I
mean to clamber up the sides of the Ben, and explore the gorges. They
say that ptarmigan and mountain hares are to be found there."
The youth's eye sparkled with enthusiasm; for, having been born and bred
in the heart of London, the idea of roaming alone among wild rocky glens
up among the hills, far from the abodes of men, made him fancy himself
little short of a second Crusoe. He was also elated at the thought of
firing at _real_ wild birds and animals--his experiences with the gun
having hitherto been confined to the unromantic practice of a
shooting-gallery in Regent Street.
"Success to you, George," cried Mr Sudberry, waving his hand to his
son, as the latter was about to enter a ravine.
"The same to you, father," cried George, as he waved his cap in return,
and disappeared.
Five minutes' walk brought them to the hut of the poor old woman, whose
name they had learned was Moggy.
"This, then, is my goal," said Fred, smiling. "I hope to scratch in the
outline of the interior before you catch your first trout."
"Take care the old woman doesn't scratch out your eyes, Fred," said the
father, laughing. "Dinner at five--_sharp_, remember."
Fred entered the hovel, and Mr Sudberry, walking briskly along the road
for a quarter of a mile, diverged into a foot-path which conducted him
to the banks of the river, and to the margin of a magnificent pool where
he hoped to catch his first trout.
And now, at last, had arrived that hour to which Mr Sudberry had long
looked forward with the most ardent anticipation. To stand alone on a
lovely summer's day, rod in hand, on the banks of a Highland stream, had
been the ambition of the worthy merchant ever since he was a boy. Fate
had decreed that this ambition should not be gratified until his head
was bald; but he did not rejoice the less on this account. His limbs
were stout and still active, and his enthusiasm was as strong as it was
in boyhood. No one knew the powerful spirit of angling which dwelt in
Mr Sudberry's breast. His wife did not, his sons did not. He was not
fully aware of it himself, until opportunity revealed it in the most
surprising manner. He had, indeed, known a little of the angler's
feelings in the days of his youth, but he had a soul above punts, and
chairs, and floats, and such trifles; although, like all great men, he
did not despise little things. Many a day had he sat on old Father
Thames, staring, with eager expectation, at a gaudy float, as if all his
earthly hopes were dependent on its motions; and many a struggling fish
had he whipped out of the muddy waters with a shout of joy. But he
thought of those days, now, with the feelings of an old soldier who,
returning from the wars to his parents' abode, beholds the drum and
pop-gun of his childhood. He recalled the pleasures of the punt with
patronising kindliness, and gazed majestically on crag, and glen, and
bright, glancing stream, while he pressed his foot upon the purple
heath, and put up his fishing-rod!
Mr Sudberry was in his element now. The deep flush on his gladsome
countenance indicated the turmoil of combined romance and delight which
raged within his heaving chest, and which he with difficulty prevented
from breaking forth into an idiotic cheer. He was alone, as we have
said. He was purposely so. He felt that, as yet, no member of his
family could possibly sympathise with his feelings. It was better that
they should not witness emotions which they could not thoroughly
understand. Moreover, he wished to surprise them with the result of his
prowess--in regard to which his belief was unlimited. He felt, besides,
that it was better there should be no witness to the trifling failures
which might be expected to occur in the first essay of one wholly
unacquainted with the art of angling, as practised in these remote
glens.
The pool beside which Mr Sudberry stood was one which Hector Macdonald
had pointed out as being one of the best in the river. It lay at the
tail of a rapid, had an eddy in it, and a rippling, oily surface. The
banks were in places free from underwood, and only a few small trees
grew near them. The shadow of the mountain, which reared its rugged
crest close to it, usually darkened the surface, but, at the time we
write of, a glowing sun poured its rays into the deepest recesses of the
pool--a fact which filled Mr Sudberry, in his ignorance, with delight;
but which, had he known better, would have overwhelmed him with dismay.
In the present instance it happened that "ignorance was bliss," for as
every fish in the pool was watching the angler with grave upturned eyes
while he put up his rod, and would as soon have attempted to swallow Mr
Sudberry's hat as leap at his artificial flies, it was well that he was
not aware of the fact, otherwise his joy of heart would have been turned
into sorrow sooner than there was any occasion for.
Musing on piscatorial scenes past, present, and to come, Mr Sudberry
passed the line through the rings of his rod with trembling and excited
fingers.
While thus engaged, he observed a break on the surface of the pool, and
a fish caused a number of rings to form on the water; those floated
toward him as if to invite him on. Mr Sudberry was red-hot now with
hope and expectation. It was an _enormous_ trout that had risen. Most
trouts that are seen, but not caught, are enormous!
There is no pleasure without its alloy. It could not be expected that
the course of true sport, any more than that of true love, should run
smooth. Mr Sudberry's ruddy face suddenly turned pale when he
discovered that he had forgotten his fishing book! Each pocket in his
coat was slapped and plunged into with vehement haste, while drops of
cold perspiration stood on his forehead. It was not to be found.
Suddenly he recollected the basket at his back: wrenching it open, he
found the book there, and joy again suffused his visage.
Selecting his best line and hooks--as pointed out to him by Hector--Mr
Sudberry let out a few yards of line, and prepared for action.
Remembering the advice and example of his friend, he made his first
cast.
Ha! not so bad. The line fell rather closer to the bank on which he
stood than was consistent with the vigour of the cast; but never mind,
the next would be better! The next _was_ better. The line went out to
its full extent, and came down on the water with such a splash that no
trout in its senses would have looked at the place for an hour
afterwards. But Mr Sudberry was ignorant of this, so he went on
hopefully.
As yet the line was short, so he let out half a dozen yards boldly, and
allowed the stream to draw it straight. Then, making a violent effort,
he succeeded in causing it to descend in a series of circles close to
his feet! This, besides being unexpected, was embarrassing. Determined
to succeed, he made another cast, and caught the top branch of a small
tree, the existence of which he had forgotten. There the hooks remained
fixed.
A deep sigh broke from the excited man, as he gazed ruefully up at the
tree. Under a sudden and violent impulse, he tried to pull the tackle
forcibly away. This would not do. He tried again till the rod bent
almost double, and he was filled with amazement to find that the
casting-line, though no thicker than a thread, could stand such a pull.
Still the hooks held on. Laying down his rod, he wiped his forehead and
sighed again.
But Mr Sudberry was not a man to be easily thwarted. Recalling the
days of his boyhood, he cast off his coat and nimbly shinned up the
trunk of the tree. In a few minutes he reached the top branch and
seized it. At that moment the bough on which he stood gave way, and he
fell to the ground with a terrible crash, bringing the top branch with
him! Gathering himself up, he carefully manipulated his neck, to
ascertain whether or not it was broken. He found that it was not; but
the line was, so he sat down quietly on the bank and replaced it with a
new one.
Before Mr Sudberry left that spot on the bank beside the dark pool, he
had caught the tree four times and his hat twice, but he had caught no
trout. "They're not taking to-day, that's it," he muttered sadly to
himself; "but come, cheer up, old fellow, and try a new fly."
Thus encouraged by himself, Mr Sudberry selected a large blue fly with
a black head, red wings, and a long yellow tail. It was a gorgeous, and
he thought a tempting creature; but the trout were evidently not of the
same opinion. For several hours the unfortunate piscator flogged the
water in vain. He became very hot during this prolonged exertion,
stumbled into several holes, and wetted both legs up to the knees, had
his cap brushed off more than once by overhanging branches, and
entangled his line grievously while in the act of picking it up, bruised
his shins several times, and in short got so much knocked about,
battered, and worried, that he began to feel in a state of mental and
physical dishevelment.
Still his countenance did not betray much of his feelings. He found
fishing more difficult in all respects than he had expected; but what
then? Was he going to give way to disgust at the first disappointment?
Certainly not. Was he going to fail in perseverance now, after having
established a reputation for that quality during a long commercial life
in the capital of England? Decidedly not. Was that energy, that
vigour, that fervour of character for which he was noted, to fail him
here--here, in an uncivilised country, where it was so much required--
after having been the means of raising him from a humble station to one
of affluence; after having enabled him to crush through all
difficulties, small or great, as well as having caused him to sweep
hecatombs of crockery to destruction with his coat tails? Indubitably
not!
Glowing with such thoughts, the dauntless man tightened his cap on his
brow, pressed his lips together with a firm smile, frowned
good-humouredly at fate and the water, and continued his unflagging,
though not unflogging, way.
So, the hot sun beat down upon him until evening drew on apace, and then
the midges came out. The torments which Mr Sudberry endured after this
were positively awful, and the struggles that he made, in the bravery of
his cheerful heart, to bear up against them, were worthy of a hero of
romance. His sufferings were all the more terrible and exasperating,
that at first they came in the shape of an effect without a cause. The
skin of his face and hands began to inflame and to itch beyond
endurance--to his great surprise; for the midges were so exceedingly
small and light, that, being deeply intent on his line, he did not
observe them. He had heard of midges, no doubt; but never having seen
them, and being altogether engrossed in his occupation, he never thought
of them for a moment. He only became aware of ever-increasing
uneasiness, and exhibited a tendency to rub the backs of his hands
violently on his trousers, and to polish his countenance with his cuffs.
It must be the effect of exposure to the sun, he thought--yes, that was
it; of course, that would go off soon, and he would become
case-hardened, a regular mountaineer! Ha! was that a trout? Yes, that
must have been one at last; to be sure, there were several stones and
eddies near the spot where it rose, but he knew the difference between
the curl of an eddy now and the splash of a trout; he would throw over
the exact spot, which was just a foot or two above a moss-covered stone
that peeped out of the water; he did so, and caught it--the stone, not
the trout--and the hooks remained fixed in the slimy green moss.
Mr Sudberry scratched his head and felt inclined to stamp. He even
experienced a wild desire to cast his rod violently into the river, and
walk home with his hands in his pockets; but he restrained himself.
Pulling on the line somewhat recklessly, the hook came away, to his
immense delight, trailing a long thread of the green moss along with it.
Mr Sudberry now took to holding a muttered conversation with himself--a
practice which was by no means new to him, and in the course of which he
was wont to address himself in curiously disrespectful terms. "Come,
come, John, my boy, don't be cast down! Never say die! Hope, ay, hope
told a flatter--Hallo! was that a rise? No, it must have been another
of these--what can be the matter with your skin to-day, John? I don't
believe it's the sun, after all. The sun never drove anyone frantic.
Never mind; cheer up, old cock! That seems a very likely hole--a
beautiful--beau-ti--steady! That was a good cast--the best you've made
to-day, my buck; try it again--ha! s-s-us! caught again, as I'm a
Dutchman. This is too bad. Really, you know--well, you've come off
easier than might have been expected. Now then, softly. What _can_ be
the matter with your face?--surely--it cannot be," (Mr Sudberry's heart
palpitated as he thought), "the _measles_! Oh! impossible, pooh! pooh!
you had the measles when you were a baby, of course--d'ye know, John,
you're not quite sure of that. Fevers, too, occasionally come on with
extreme--dear me, how hot it is, and what a time you have been fishing,
you stupid fellow, without a rise! It must be getting late."
Mr Sudberry stopped with a startled look as he said this. He glanced
at the sun, pulled out his watch, gazed at it with unutterable surprise,
put it to his ear, and groaned.
"Too late! half-past five; dinner at five--punctually! Oh! Mary, Mary,
won't I catch it to-night!"
A cloud passed over the sun as he spoke. Being very susceptible to
outward influences, the gloom of the shadow descended on his spirits as
well as his person, and for the first time that day a look of deep
dejection overspread his countenance.
Suddenly there was a violent twitch at the end of the rod, the reel spun
round with a sharp whirr-r, and every nerve in Mr Sudberry's system
received an electric shock as he bent forward, straddled his legs, and
made a desperate effort to fling the trout over his head.
The slender rod would not, however, permit of such treatment. It bent
double, and the excited piscator was fain to wind up--an operation which
he performed so hastily that the line became entangled with the winch of
the reel, which brought it to a dead-lock. With a gasp of anxiety he
flung down the rod, and seizing the line with his hands, hauled out a
beautiful yellow trout of about a quarter of a pound in weight, and five
or six inches long.
To describe the joy of Mr Sudberry at this piece of good fortune were
next to impossible. Sitting down on his fishing-basket, with the trout
full in view, he drew forth a small flask of sherry, a slice of bread,
and a lump of cheese, and proceeded then and there to regale himself.
He cared nothing now for the loss of his dinner; no thought gave he to
the anticipated scold from neglected Mrs Sudberry. He gave full scope
to his joy at the catching of this, his first trout. He looked up at
the cloud that obscured the sun, and forgave it, little thinking,
innocent man, that the said cloud had done him a good turn that day. He
smiled benignantly on water, earth, and sky. He rubbed his face, and
when he did so he thought of the measles and laughed--laughed heartily,
for by that time he had discovered the true cause of his misery; and
although we cannot venture to say that he forgave the midges, sure we
are that he was greatly mollified towards them.
Does any ignorant or cynical reader deem such an extravagance of delight
inconsistent with so trifling an occasion? Let him ponder before he
ventures to exclaim, "Ridiculous!" Let him look round upon this busy,
whirling, incomprehensible world, and note how its laughing and weeping
multitudes are oft-times tickled to uproarious merriment, or whelmed in
gloomy woe, by the veriest trifles, and then let him try to look with
sympathy on Mr Sudberry and his first trout.
Having carefully deposited the fish in his basket, he once more resumed
his rod and his expectations.
But if the petty annoyances that beset our friend in the fore part of
that day may be styled harassing, those with which he was overwhelmed
towards evening may be called exasperating. First of all he broke the
top of his rod, a misfortune which broke his heart entirely. But
recollecting suddenly that he had three spare top-pieces in the butt,
his heart was cemented and bound up, so to speak, in a rough and ready
manner. Next, he stepped into a hole, which turned out to be three feet
deep, so that he was instantly soaked up to the waist. Being extremely
hot, besides having grown quite reckless, Mr Sudberry did not mind
this; it was pleasantly cooling. He was cheered, too, at the moment, by
the re-appearance of the sun, which shone out as bright as ever, warming
his heart, (poor, ignorant man!) and, all unknown to him, damaging his
chance of catching any more fish at that time.
Soon after this he came to a part of the river where it flowed through
extremely rugged rocks, and plunged over one or two precipices, sending
up clouds of grey mist and a dull roar which overawed him, and depressed
his spirits. This latter effect was still further increased by the
bruising of his shins and elbows, which resulted from the rough nature
of the ground. He became quite expert now in hanking on bushes and
disentangling the line, and experienced a growing belief in the truth of
the old saying that "practice makes perfect." He cast better, he hanked
oftener, and he disentangled more easily than he had done at an earlier
period of the day. The midges, too, increased as evening advanced.
Presently he came upon a picturesque portion of the stream where the
waters warbled and curled in little easy-going rapids, miniature falls,
and deep oily pools. Being an angler by nature, though not by practice,
(as yet), he felt that there must be _something_ there. A row of
natural stepping-stones ran out towards a splendid pool, in which he
felt assured there must be a large trout--perhaps a grilse. His modesty
forbade him to hint "a salmon," even to himself.
It is a very difficult thing, as everyone knows, to step from one stone
to another in a river, especially when the water flowing between runs
swift and deep. Mr Sudberry found it so. In his effort to approach
the pool in question, which lay under the opposite bank, he exhibited
not a few of the postures of the rope-dancer and the acrobat; but he
succeeded, for Mr Sudberry was a man of indomitable pluck.
Standing on a small stone, carefully balanced, and with his feet close
together, he made a beautiful cast. It was gracefully done; it was
vigorously, manfully done--considering the difficulty of the position,
and the voracity of the midges--and would have been undoubtedly
successful but for the branch of a tree which grew on the opposite bank
and overhung the stream. This branch Mr Sudberry, in his eagerness,
did not observe. In casting, he thrust the end of his rod violently
into it; the line twirled in dire confusion round the leaves and small
boughs, and the drag hook, as if to taunt him, hung down within a foot
of his nose.
Mr Sudberry, in despair, made a desperate grasp at this and caught it.
More than that--it caught him, and sunk into his forefinger over the
barb, so that he could not get it out. The rock on which he stood was
too narrow to admit of much movement, much less to permit of his resting
the butt of his rod on it, even if that had been practicable--which it
was not, owing to the line being fast to the bough, and the reel in a
state of dead-lock from some indescribable manoeuvre, to which it had
previously been subjected.
There he stood, the very personification of despair; but while standing
there he revolved in his mind the best method of releasing his line
without breaking it or further damaging his rod. Alas! fortune, in this
instance, did not favour the brave. While he was looking up in rueful
contemplation of the havoc above, and then down at his pierced and
captured finger, his foot slipped and he fell with a heavy plunge into
deep water. That settled the question. The whole of his tackle
remained attached to the fatal bough excepting the hook in his finger,
with which, and the remains of his fishing-rod, he floundered to the
shore.
Mr Sudberry's first act on gaining the land was to look into his
basket, where, to his great relief, the trout was still reposing. His
next was to pick up his hat, which was sailing in an eddy fifty yards
down the stream. Then he squeezed the water out of his garments, took
down his rod, with a heavy sigh strangely mingled with a triumphant
smile, and turned his steps home just as the sun began to dip behind the
peaks of the distant hills.
To his surprise and relief; Mrs Sudberry did _not_ scold when, about an
hour later, he entered the hall or porch of the White House with the
deprecatory air of a dog that knows he has been misbehaving, and with
the general aspect of a drowned rat. His wife had been terribly anxious
about his non-arrival, and the joy she felt on seeing him safe and well,
induced her to forget the scold.
"Oh! John dear, quick, get off your clothes," was her first
exclamation.
As for Jacky, he uttered a cheer of delight and amazement at beholding
his father in such a woeful plight; and he spent the remainder of the
evening in a state of impish triumph; for, had not his own father come
home in the same wet and draggled condition as that in which he himself
had presented himself to Mrs Brown earlier in the day, and for which he
had received a sound whipping? "Hooray!" and with that the amiable
child went off to inform his worthy nurse that "papa was as bad a boy as
himself--badder, in fact; for he, (Jacky), had only been in the water up
to the waist, while papa had gone into it head and heels!"