ften made as
strong as leather--and twisted and knotted them together until they had
a line fifteen feet long. It took them at least two hours to complete
this task, and then they contemplated their work with pride. But the
look of joy on Paul's face did not last long.

"How on earth are we to get a hook, Henry?" he asked.

"I'll furnish that," replied Henry, and he took the small steel buckle
with which his trousers were fastened together at the back. Breaking
this apart he bent the slenderest portion of it into the shape of a
hook, and fastened it to the end of his line.

"If we get a fish on this he may slip off or he may not, but we must
try," he said.

The fishing rod and the bait were easy matters. A slender stem of
dogwood, cut with a clasp knife, served for the first, and, to get the
latter, they had nothing to do but turn up a flat stone, and draw angle
worms from the moist earth beneath.

The hook was baited and with a triumphant flourish Henry swung it toward
the stream.

"Now," he said, "for the biggest fish that ever swam in this creek."

The boys might have caught nothing with such a rude outfit, but
doubtless that stream was never fished in before, and its inhabitants,
besides being full of a natural curiosity, did not dream of any danger
coming from the outer air. Therefore they bit at the curious-looking
metallic thing with the tempting food upon it which was suddenly dropped
from somewhere.

But the first fish slipped off as Henry had feared, and then there was
nothing to do but try again. It was not until the sixth or seventh bite
that he succeeded in landing a fine perch upon the bank, and then Paul
uttered a cry of triumph, but Henry, as became his superior dignity at
that moment, took his victory modestly. It was in reality something to
rejoice over, as these two boys were perhaps in a more dangerous
situation than they, with all their knowledge of the border, understood.
The wilderness was full of animal life, but it was fleeter than man,
and, without weapons they were helpless.

"And now to cook him," said Henry. So speaking, he took from his pocket
the flint and steel that he had learned from the men always to carry,
while Paul began to gather fallen brushwood.

To light the fire Henry expected to be the easiest of their tasks, but
it proved to be one of the most difficult. He struck forth the elusive
sparks again and again, but they went out before setting fire to the
wood. He work