Front matter

DEDICATION TO MY LADY GRAYGOWN

Here is the basket; I bring it home to you. There are no great fish in it. But perhaps there may be one or two little ones which will be to your taste. And there are a few shining pebbles from the bed of the brook, and ferns from the cool, green woods, and wild flowers from the places that you remember. I would fain console you, if I could, for the hardship of having married an angler: a man who relapses into his mania with the return of every spring, and never sees a little river without wishing to fish in it. But after all, we have had good times together as we have followed the stream of life towards the sea. And we have passed through the dark days without losing heart, because we were comrades. So let this book tell you one thing that is certain. In all the life of your fisherman the best piece of luck is just YOU.

CONTENTS

FISHERMAN'S LUCK

THE THRILLING MOMENT

TALKABILITY

I. PRELUDE—ON AN OLD, FOOLISH MAXIM

II. THEME—ON A SMALL, USEFUL VIRTUE

III. VARIATIONS—ON A PLEASANT PHRASE FROM MONTAIGNE

A WILD STRAWBERRY

LOVERS AND LANDSCAPE

A FATAL SUCCESS

A NORWEGIAN HONEYMOON

WHO OWNS THE MOUNTAINS?

A LAZY, IDLE BROOK

I. A CASUAL INTRODUCTION

II. A BETTER ACQUAINTANCE

III. THE SECRETS OF INTIMACY

THE OPEN FIRE

I. LIGHTING UP

II. THE CAMP-FIRE

III. THE COOKING-FIRE

IV. THE SMUDGE-FIRE

V. THE LITTLE FRIENDSHIP-FIRE

VI. ALTARS OF REMEMBRANCE

A SLUMBER SONG FOR THE FISHERMAN'S CHILD