will not be able to get up to-morrow.' That was true, sensible,
prudent, and clear-sighted, I must confess. Nevertheless, I could not
withstand it, and I drank my bottle. It all comes from that.

"Well, I could not sleep. By Jove! It kept me awake till two o'clock in
the morning, and then I went to sleep so soundly that I should not have
heard the angel shouting at the Last Judgment.

"In short, my wife woke me at six o'clock and I jumped out of bed,
hastily put on my trousers and jersey, washed my face and jumped on
board 'Delila.' But it was too late, for when I arrived at my hole it
was already taken! Such a thing had never happened to me in three
years, and it made me feel as if I were being robbed under my own eyes.
I said to myself, Confound it all! confound it! And then my wife began
to nag at me. 'Eh! What about your Casque a meche! Get along, you
drunkard! Are you satisfied, you great fool?' I could say nothing,
because it was all quite true, and so I landed all the same near the
spot and tried to profit by what was left. Perhaps after all the fellow
might catch nothing, and go away.

"He was a little thin man, in white linen coat and waistcoat, and with
a large straw hat, and his wife, a fat woman who was doing embroidery,
was behind him.

"When she saw us take up our position close to their place, she
murmured: 'I suppose there are no other places on the river!' And my
wife, who was furious, replied: 'People who know how to behave make
inquiries about the habits of the neighborhood before occupying
reserved spots.'

"As I did not want a fuss, I said to her: 'Hold your tongue, Melie. Let
them go on, let them go on; we shall see.'

"Well, we had fastened 'Delila' under the willow-trees, and had landed
and were fishing side by side, Melie and I, close to the two others;
but here, Monsieur, I must enter into details.

"We had only been there about five minutes when our male neighbor's
float began to go down two or three times, and then he pulled out a
chub as thick as my thigh, rather less, perhaps, but nearly as big! My
heart beat, and the perspiration stood on my forehead, and Melie said
to me: 'Well, you sot, did you see that?'

"Just then, Monsieur Bru, the grocer of Poissy, who was fond of gudgeon
fishing, passed in a boat, and called out to me: So somebody has taken
your usual place, Monsieur Renard? And I replied: 'Yes, Monsieur Bru,
there are some people in this world who do not know the usages