t he was particularly fond of having them about him and
giving them orders. On the contrary, he had become very hermit-like in
his habits. In his youth he had been fond of society, and he and his
companions had often roamed the stream in little schools and bands, but
of late years his tastes seemed to have undergone a change, and he kept
to himself and lurked in the shady, sunless places till his skin grew
darker and darker, and he more and more resembled the shadows in which
he lived. His great delight was to watch from the depths of some
cave-like hollow under an overhanging bank until a star-gazer, or a
herring, or a minnow, or some other baby-eater came in sight, and then
to rush out and swallow him head first. He took ample revenge on all
those pesky little fishes for all that they had done and tried to do to
him and his brethren in the early days. The truth is that every brook
trout is an Ishmaelite. The hand of every creature is against him, from
that of the dragon-fly larva to that of the man with the latest
invention in the way of patent fishing-tackle. It is no wonder if he
turns the tables on his enemies whenever he has a chance, or even if he
sometimes goes so far, in his general ruthlessness, as to eat his own
offspring.

Yet, in spite of our friend's moroseness and solitary habits, there were
certain times and seasons when he did come more or less in contact with
his inferiors. In late spring and early summer he liked to sport for a
while in the swift rapids--perhaps to stretch his muscles after the
dull, quiet life of the winter-time, or possibly to free himself from
certain little insects which sometimes fastened themselves to his body,
and which, for lack of hands, it was rather difficult to get rid of.
Here he often met some of his subjects, and later, when the hot weather
came on, they all went to the spring-holes which formed their summer
resorts. And at such times he never hesitated to take advantage of his
superior size and strength. He always picked out the coolest and most
comfortable places in the pools, and helped himself to the choicest
morsels of food; and the others took what was left, without question.
And when the summer was gone, and the water grew cold and invigorating,
and once more he put on his wedding-garment and hurried away to the
gravelly shallows, how different was his conduct from what it had been
when he was a yearling! Then he was only a hanger-on; now he selected
his nest and