Part 14 (1/2)

”These are to be angled for with a short line not much more than half the length of your rod, if the air be still, or with longer very near, or all out as long as your rod, if you have any wind to carry it from you.”

--_The Complete Angler._

Two days after the horse race recorded in the last chapter, John Hardy had asked the Pastor's permission to take Karl and Axel with him to fish G.o.dseier Jensen's tributary to the Gudenaa. They had breakfast early, and Hardy asked for a little lunch to take with them, to which the Pastor willingly a.s.sented.

”Hardy,” said the Pastor, ”may I ask you one thing, and that is, have you spoken to Kirstin about what I told you?”

”No,” replied Hardy. ”Why should I? There is nothing that is necessary for me to say. She is your servant and not mine. If she be suspicious naturally and accuses me of gross misconduct, it is not for me to reprove her, although, if you believed it, I should clear myself, as I value your good opinion. Surely that is not necessary?”

”No, by no means,” said Pastor Lindal; ”but I thought a reproof from you----”

”You have given her reproof sufficient,” interrupted Hardy, ”and so have I, and there is no need to repeat it. It is true, I spoke to her without full knowledge of her conduct, but to say more is neither necessary nor expedient.”

The Pastor was surprised at the decided tone Hardy used. It had been his intention to clear the matter up, so that nothing should rest in Hardy's mind against Kirstin. He now understood that Hardy thought no more of the matter than that a woman-servant in his employ had said a foolish thing. This was a small matter, but it raised Hardy much in the worthy Pastor's estimation.

Hardy had sent a note to proprietor Jensen, to say he was coming over to fish on his property, and to ask leave to put his horses in his stable. So Garth drove, and they got out of the carriage near the stream they were to fish, and Karl and Axel were soon busy in putting up the rods Hardy had given them. The stream ran through a flat meadow, and here and there was covered with reeds. There was little flow in the stream, but where it was deeper there were no reeds. The water rush was abundant on the banks, growing along the flat banks and out in the water. Hardy had heard there were plenty of trout there, but it appeared difficult to catch them. The day was warm and still, and it did not look at all propitious. Karl and Axel threw their flies into the water for a long time with no result--not a trout moved.

Hardy did not fish, but looked on. It was clear the trout were not on the feed, and, moreover, the sun was high and the day bright. Hardy sat down and smoked. The two boys came back to him after their futile attempts to fish. They saw Hardy had not wetted his line, but had attached a dyed casting line to it, on which was a large but light thin wired hook. He then sent the boys hunting for gra.s.shoppers and fernwebs, and letting out so much of the reel line as, with the casting line, would be as long as his rod, he let the gra.s.shopper that he had put on the hook fall lightly on the water, and be carried down by the sluggish stream; there was a swirl in the water, and Hardy was fast in a big trout. The day, however, was so hot and bright that, after catching eight trout with much difficulty and steady fis.h.i.+ng, Hardy decided to call at the Jensen's Herregaard, and give them the fish he had caught, and fish in the evening, when the sun was less powerful. The heat, as it sometimes is in Denmark, was excessive. He had been seen coming up the avenue of lime trees, and the stout proprietor came out to meet him, with his face full of pleasure and kindness, for he liked John Hardy.

”Welcome, and glad to see you!” exclaimed Herr Jensen. ”It is too hot and bright for fis.h.i.+ng, and you have been wise to come up to the house. I thought it probable that you would not fish much, and I remained at home in the hope you might call.”

”We have caught a few trout for you,” said Hardy; ”but the heat in your flat country such a day as this is more than I care to bear. Your trout are larger on the average than in the Gudenaa, and are splendid fish. I have fished in many lands, and never saw better. The few fish we have caught to-day average a pound, but they are very young fish, and I never saw fish the same age so large.”

”How can you tell how old they are?” asked Herr Jensen, incredulously.

”Why, you look at a horse's mouth, don't you? and it is the same with trout,” replied Hardy; ”that is, to some extent. The teeth get larger at the base, the jaw bone thickens with age, and the snout gets longer. I have often seen trout that have been reared from ova, and whose age was consequently known, and have closely observed their mouths. The fish in your stream grow fast from the great abundance of the food that trout thrive best on.”

”But come in out of the heat,” said Herr Jensen, ”and have a snaps or a gla.s.s of wine. My friends who come here to fish rarely catch so many trout in a whole day's fis.h.i.+ng; and that when they consider the weather favourable; but you English appear to be born with a rod and a gun.”

Karl and Axel proposed going with Robert Garth to see the proprietor's horses and live stock, and, as they knew a little English, they got on very well with Garth, whom they considered a paragon of a servant. His respectful demeanour towards Hardy impressed them, and the way he did his work about the horses was always a matter of interest.

Hardy went into the proprietor's s.p.a.cious reception room, which was well but plainly furnished, with its aspect of neatness so dear to a Danish house mother.

Fru Jensen and her two daughters were knitting, but rose to welcome Hardy, with the genial friendliness habitual with Danish ladies. They insisted on his staying to dinner, but Hardy objected, as he had Karl and Axel with him as well as his servant; but all objections were futile, and Fru Jensen left the room, to give the necessary directions for a very substantial dinner.

Mathilde Jensen was about two and twenty, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes, and light hair, and a cheerful manner. ”How is your beautiful horse, Herr Hardy?” she asked.

”Quite fit to run another race,” replied Hardy. ”But do not you Danish ladies ride?”

”Yes. We have each our own horse, and we often ride with father and by ourselves short distances,” said Frken Mathilde; ”but they are not such good horses as those you have purchased in Denmark.”

”They are never satisfied with their horses,” said the proprietor; ”they are always wanting me to buy a horse of a different colour than what they have got--first it's chesnut, and then dark bay.”

”Would you like to ride one of my Danish horses?” said Hardy. ”They have been frequently ridden.”

”No, no; don't go putting that in their heads, Herr Hardy!” protested the proprietor. ”They never had a petticoat on their backs.”

”If Frken Mathilde would lend her side saddle and an old skirt, my man shall try both the horses, while we are here,” said Hardy. ”I have no lady's saddle here, but from what I know of the horses there is no doubt but that they will carry a lady quietly, and better backs for a lady I have seldom seen.”

Proprietor Jensen's desire to see an English groom, whom he saw understood his business, handling his favourite animal, a horse, overcame whatever scruples he may have had as to its leading to his daughters riding Hardy's horses, and in a few minutes one of the horses was mounted by Garth, with a skirt tied to his waist, and the horse trotted and cantered up and down the avenue. The other horse was also tried. The English groom's perfect riding was much praised by the proprietor.