yourself," is what he says to his friends. This
is also the form of invitation to barbel. Now it happened that she and
Gilray were left alone in the house-boat. It was evening; some Chinese
lanterns had been lighted, and Gilray, though you would not think it
to look at him, is romantic. He cast his line, and, turning to his
companion, asked her the question. From what he has told me he asked it
very properly, and all seemed to be going well. She turned away her head
(which is said not to be a bad sign) and had begun to reply, when a
woful thing happened. The line stiffened, and there was a whirl of the
reel. Who can withstand that music? You can ask a question at any time,
but, even at Molesey, barbel are only to be got now and then. Gilray
rushed to his rod and began playing the fish. He called to his companion
to get the landing-net. She did so; and after playing his barbel for ten
minutes Gilray landed it. Then he turned to her again, and she said, "No."

Gilray sees now that he made a mistake in not departing that night by
the last train. He overestimated his strength. However, we had something
to do with his staying on, and he persuaded himself that he remained
just to show her that she had ruined his life. Once, I believe, he
repeated his question; but in reply she only asked him if he had caught
any more barbel. Considering the surprisingly fine weather, the
barbel-fishing, and the piano on the other boat, Gilray was perhaps
as miserable as could reasonably have been expected. Where he ought to
have scored best, however, he was most unlucky. She had a hammock swung
between two trees, close to the boat, and there she lay, holding a novel
in her hand. From the hammock she had a fine view of the deck, and this
was Gilray's chance. As soon as he saw her comfortably settled, he
pulled a long face and climbed on deck. There he walked up and down,
trying to look the image of despair. When she made some remark to
him, his plan was to show that, though he answered cordially, his
cheerfulness was the result of a terrible inward struggle. He did
contrive to accomplish this if he was waiting for her observation; but
she sometimes took him unawares, starting a subject in which he was
interested. Then, forgetting his character, he would talk eagerly
or jest with her across the strip of water, until with a start he
remembered what he had become. He would seek to recover himself after
that; but of course it was too late to creat