had caught, and fish in the evening, when the sun was less
powerful. The heat, as it sometimes is in Denmark, was excessive. He
had been seen coming up the avenue of lime trees, and the stout
proprietor came out to meet him, with his face full of pleasure and
kindness, for he liked John Hardy.

"Welcome, and glad to see you!" exclaimed Herr Jensen. "It is too hot
and bright for fishing, and you have been wise to come up to the
house. I thought it probable that you would not fish much, and I
remained at home in the hope you might call."

"We have caught a few trout for you," said Hardy; "but the heat in
your flat country such a day as this is more than I care to bear. Your
trout are larger on the average than in the Gudenaa, and are splendid
fish. I have fished in many lands, and never saw better. The few fish
we have caught to-day average a pound, but they are very young fish,
and I never saw fish the same age so large."

"How can you tell how old they are?" asked Herr Jensen, incredulously.

"Why, you look at a horse's mouth, don't you? and it is the same with
trout," replied Hardy; "that is, to some extent. The teeth get larger
at the base, the jaw bone thickens with age, and the snout gets
longer. I have often seen trout that have been reared from ova, and
whose age was consequently known, and have closely observed their
mouths. The fish in your stream grow fast from the great abundance of
the food that trout thrive best on."

"But come in out of the heat," said Herr Jensen, "and have a snaps or
a glass of wine. My friends who come here to fish rarely catch so many
trout in a whole day's fishing; and that when they consider the
weather favourable; but you English appear to be born with a rod and a
gun."

Karl and Axel proposed going with Robert Garth to see the proprietor's
horses and live stock, and, as they knew a little English, they got on
very well with Garth, whom they considered a paragon of a servant. His
respectful demeanour towards Hardy impressed them, and the way he did
his work about the horses was always a matter of interest.

Hardy went into the proprietor's spacious reception room, which was
well but plainly furnished, with its aspect of neatness so dear to a
Danish house mother.

Fru Jensen and her two daughters were knitting, but rose to welcome
Hardy, with the genial friendliness habitual with Danish ladies. They
insisted on his staying to dinner, but Hardy objected, as he had Karl
and A