long while. Returning to the village, we made a good feed off our day's
spoil, after which, having selected a few of the finer fish for our
breakfast, we presented the remainder to the group of villagers who had
assembled at a respectful distance to watch our doings. They seemed
wonderfully grateful, and heaped mountains of what I presumed to be
Irish blessings upon our heads.

Thus we spent several days, having splendid sport, and first-rate
appetites to do justice upon our prey. We were pleased to find how
friendly the villagers were inclined to be, and that there was no
evidence of their having ventured to meddle with our belongings during
our absences.

It was on a Tuesday that we arrived in Kraighten, and it would be on the
Sunday following that we made a great discovery. Hitherto we had always
gone up-stream; on that day, however, we laid aside our rods, and,
taking some provisions, set off for a long ramble in the opposite
direction. The day was warm, and we trudged along leisurely enough,
stopping about mid-day to eat our lunch upon a great flat rock near the
riverbank. Afterward we sat and smoked awhile, resuming our walk only
when we were tired of inaction.

For perhaps another hour we wandered onward, chatting quietly and
comfortably on this and that matter, and on several occasions stopping
while my companion--who is something of an artist--made rough sketches
of striking bits of the wild scenery.

And then, without any warning whatsoever, the river we had followed so
confidently, came to an abrupt end--vanishing into the earth.