h waded on, catching nothing; but the beauties of the place
increased, and satisfied him so that he began to forget his mission, and
paused now to listen to the soft coo of the wood-pigeon in the grove, to
the quick sharp _tah_! of the jackdaws sailing about high up, where they
nested in the bare face of the creviced cliffs. Then on and on again,
in sunshine or in shade, for quite a couple of hours, fishing in a
desultory way, but with not the slightest result. Then his luck turned.

He had been driven ashore several times by the deep water, but always
returned to the bed of the river where it shallowed, for it was easier
going than forcing his way amidst the stones, bushes, and trees at the
side; and now, as he was wading up toward where the water came over a
ridge in a cascade, a little shoal of half-a-dozen fish darted upward,
and he followed them, with the water growing more and more shallow, till
his pulses beat with satisfaction, for a little investigation showed him
that he would be able to drive the slippery prey right into a broad
stretch where the water was but an inch or two deep, and dotted
everywhere with shoals that were nearly dry.

Fishing was out of the question in a place like that, so twisting his
line round his rod, he used the latter as a walking-staff, and followed
till the prey he sought were compelled to flap themselves along upon
their sides; two trout on finding themselves in such straits leaping
right on to one of the half-dried pebbly shoals. Here Ralph pounced
upon one after the other, and transferred them to his creel, after first
taking out his shoes and hose, which had been reclining there, at rest
from their ordinary avocation of protecting his feet.

"Queer fishing," muttered the lad; "but I've caught them. Now for you."

This to the rest of the shoal, which he chased so perseveringly that he
caught four more by driving them into the shallowest water, the two
largest succeeding by desperate rushes in getting through the
treacherous part, and disappearing in the deeps toward the cascade.

"All too big to go in the little can," thought Ralph. "Never mind; they
will make a fry. Perhaps I can catch some smaller ones the same way."

He tied his shoes together by the strings, and fastened them to the
strap of his creel, tucked his hose through his belt, and went ashore
again, to make his way beyond the little cascade which fell musically
over the rocks; and as he was going on by the