Here and there Follett would flicker his hook over the surface of a shaded pool, poise it at the foot of a ripple, skim it across an eddy, cast it under a shelf of rock or dangle it in some promising nook by the willow roots, shielding himself meanwhile as best he could; here behind a boulder, there bending a willow in front of him, again lying flat on the bank, taking care to keep even his shadow off the stream and to go silently.

From where she followed, Prudence would see the surface of the water break with a curling gleam of gold, which would give way to a bubbling splash; then she would see the willow rod bend, see it vibrate and thrill and tremble, the point working slowly over the bank.  Then perhaps the rod would suddenly straighten out for a few seconds only to bend again, slowly, gently, but mercilessly.  Or perhaps the point continued to come in until it was well over the bank and the end of the line close by.  Then after a frantic splashing on the margin of the stream the conquered trout would be gasping on the bank, a thing of shivering gleams of blended brown and gold and pink.  At first she pitied the fish and regretted the cruelty of man, but Follett had other views.

“Why,” he said, “a trout is the crudest beast there is.  Look at it trying to swallow this poor little hopper that it thought tumbled into the water by accident.  It just loves to eat its stuff alive.  And it isn’t particular.  It would just as lief eat its own children.  Now you take that one there, and say he was ten thousand times as big as he is, and you were coming along here and your foot slipped and Mr. Trout was lying behind this rock here—­hungry.  Say!  What a mouthful you’d make, pink dress and all—­he’d have you swallowed in a second, and then he’d sneak back behind the rock there, wiping his mouth, and hoping your little sister or somebody would be along in a minute and fall in too.”

“Ugh!—­Why, what horrible little monsters!  Let me catch one.”

And so she fished under his direction.  They lurked together in the shadows of rocks, while he showed her how to flicker the bait in the current, here holding her hand on the rod, again supporting her while she leaned out to cast around a boulder, each feeling the other’s breathless caution and looking deep into each other’s eyes through seconds of tense silence.

Such as they were, these were the only results of the lesson; results that left them in easy friendliness toward each other.  For the fish were not deceived by her.  He would point out some pool where very probably a hungry trout was lying in wait with his head to the current, and she would try to skim the lure over it.  More than once she saw the fish dart toward it, but never did she quite convince them.  Oftener she saw them flit up-stream in fright, like flashes of gray lightning.  Yet at length she felt she had learned all that could be taught of the art, and that further failure would mean merely a lack of appetite or spirit in the fish.  So she went on alone, while Follett stopped to clean the dozen trout he had caught.