y; and I want to get my studies over while the day is young, and
the air fresh and pure. I can read twice as well now as I shall be able
after breakfast."

"Well, if you are so unsociable, I must go by myself," I said, getting
down my rod from the wall on which it hung with my fishing-tackle and
basket. Swinging the latter over my shoulder I crept noiselessly out of
the room and down stairs. No one was stirring, so I let myself out by a
back door which led into the garden. Even our old dog "Growler" did not
bark, for he was, I suppose, taking his morning snooze after having been
on the watch all night.

Before setting off I had to get some bait. I found a spade in the
tool-house and proceeded with it to a certain well-known heap in the
corner of the kitchen garden, full of vivacious worms of a ruddy hue,
for which fish of all descriptions had a decided predilection. Even
now, whenever I smell a similar odour to that which emanated from the
heap, the garden and its surroundings are vividly recalled to my mind.
I quickly filled a box, which I kept for the purpose, with wriggling
worms. It had a perforated lid, and contained damp moss.

"I ought to have thought of getting these fellows yesterday and have
given them time to clean themselves," I said to myself. "They'll do,
notwithstanding, although they will not prove as tough as they ought."
Shouldering my rod I made my way out of the garden by a wicket gate, and
proceeded across the fields on which it opened towards Leighton Park.
The grass was wet with dew, the air was pure and fresh, almost cold; the
birds were singing blithely in the trees. A lark sprang up before me,
and rose into the blue air, warbling sweetly to welcome the rising sun,
which he could see long before its rays glanced over the ground on which
I was walking. I could not help also singing and whistling, the bright
air alone being sufficient to raise my spirits. I hurried away, as I
was eager to begin fishing, for I wanted the fish in the first place,
and I knew in the second that Ned would laugh at me if I came back empty
handed. The pond to which I was going, although supplied by the same
stream which fed the ornamental piece of water in the neighbourhood of
the Hall, was at a distance from it, and was accessible without having
to pass through the grounds. It was surrounded by trees, and one side
of the bank was thickly fringed by sedges which extended a considerable
way into the water.