Beauchamp; or, The Error.James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
History
Beauchamp; or, The Error.
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
look about its half-expanded gills, that quite won our friend's
affection. Yet he hesitated; and being a natural philosopher, he knew
that by displacing the atoms of water the floating body might be
brought nearer to the shore. He therefore tried a stone: but whether
he threw it too far, or not far enough, I cannot tell; certain it is,
the trout was driven further away than before, and to his
inexpressible disappointment, he saw it carried through the arch. He
was resolved, however, that it should not thus escape him. Difficult
circumstances try, if they do not make, great men; and taking a little
run, he vaulted over the park paling and into the park.
He was just in the act of getting over again, perhaps feeling if he
stayed too long it might be considered an intrusion, and had the fish
in his hand, so that his movements were somewhat embarrassed, when a
little incident occurred which considerably affected his plans and
purposes for the day.
I have mentioned an old mill, and sundry trees and bushes at different
distances from the bank, breaking the soft green meadow turf in a very
picturesque manner. In the present instance, these various objects
proved not only ornamental but useful--at least to a personage who had
been upon the spot nearly as long as our friend in the velveteen
jacket. That personage had been tempted into the mill either by its
curious and ancient aspect, or by the open door, or by surprise, or by
some other circumstance or motive; and once in he thought he might as
well look out of the window. When he did look out of the window, the
first thing his eyes fell upon, was the first-mentioned gentleman
dropping his pills into the water; and there being something curious
and interesting in the whole proceeding, the man in the mill watched
the man by the river for some minutes. He then quietly slipped out,
and as the door was on the opposite side from that on which the
operations I have described were going on, he did so unperceived. It
would seem that the watcher became much affected by what he saw; for
the next minute he glided softly over the turf behind a bush, and
thence to a clump of trees, and then to a single old oak with a good
wide trunk--rather hollow and somewhat shattered about the branches,
but still with two or three of the lower boughs left, having a fair
show of leaves, like a fringe of curly hair round the poll of some
bald Anacreon. From that he went to another, and so on; in fact,
dodging our first friend all the way down, till the four first trout
were pocketed, and the fifth took its course into the park. When the
betrayer of these tender innocents, however, vaulted over the paling
in pursuit, the dodger came out and got behind some bushes--brambles,
and other similar shrubs that have occasionally other uses than
bearing blackberries; and no sooner did he see the successful chaser
of the trout, with his goodly fish in his hand and one leg over the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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