hurled back upon itself by rocks, waylaid by snags and trees, tripped
up by precipices, but sooner or later reposing under meadow banks,
deepening and eddying beneath bridges, or prosperous and strong in some
level stretch of cultivated land with great elms shading it here and
there.

But I early learned that from almost any stream in a trout country the
true angler could take trout, and that the great secret was this, that,
whatever bait you used, worm, grasshopper, grub, or fly, there was one
thing you must always put upon your hook, namely, your heart: when you
bait your hook with your heart the fish always bite; they will jump
clear from the water after it; they will dispute with each other over
it; it is a morsel they love above everything else. With such bait I
have seen the born angler (my grandfather was one) take a noble string
of trout from the most unpromising waters, and on the most unpromising
day. He used his hook so coyly and tenderly, he approached the fish
with such address and insinuation, he divined the exact spot where they
lay: if they were not eager, he humored them and seemed to steal by
them; if they were playful and coquettish, he would suit his mood to
theirs; if they were frank and sincere, he met them halfway; he was so
patient and considerate, so entirely devoted to pleasing the critical
trout, and so successful in his efforts,--surely his heart was upon his
hook, and it was a tender, unctuous heart, too, as that of every angler
is. How nicely he would measure the distance! how dexterously he would
avoid an overhanging limb or bush and drop the line exactly in the
right spot! Of course there was a pulse of feeling and sympathy to the
extremity of that line. If your heart is a stone, however, or an empty
husk, there is no use to put it upon your hook; it will not tempt the
fish; the bait must be quick and fresh. Indeed, a certain quality of
youth is indispensable to the successful angler, a certain