ture had happened,
though all of the boys who had taken part in the labor of fighting the
erratic current of the river were breathing heavily.

"Hurrah! that's the time we did it!" shouted Jimmy, apparently as proud
as if he had handled a paddle himself; nor did any of the others
begrudge him that slight satisfaction, since the glory was big enough to
go around.

Ned gave the signal for a halt here.

"We want to rest up a bit," he explained; "and besides, didn't you hear
Francois say that there were some dandy trout and grayling hanging about
here at the foot of the rapids? Seems to me I'd like a mess for dinner
to-day. Any objections?"

Not a single contrary word was heard, and apparently all of them were of
the same mind. So they put in toward the shore again, Francois leading
the way, since he had been here before, and "knew the ropes."

Tackle was soon made ready. Ned had even fetched a jointed rod along,
for he liked to fish in a thoroughly sportsmanlike way, when the game
was as royal in its nature as these big trout of the Canadian rivers.
Grayling he had never caught, though told that they even exceed trout in
desperate fighting tactics.

The fun soon became fast and furious, for there were plenty of fish, and
the conditions seemed just right for them to jump at every sort of lure,
from an artificial fly to a copy of an insect, or a phantom minnow such
as Jimmy usually patronized, he not being equal to handling a fly rod
with dexterity.

They soon had all the fish they could use. Ned continued the sport,
because he was using his fly rod, and really did not injure the captures
he made, so that he could toss them back after having had the fun of
playing them, and seeing the desperate efforts the captives made to
break away.

In the end, Ned had the luck to strike a good-sized grayling, that,
making for a smaller rapid just below, gave the young sportsman all the
excitement he could hope for before allowing itself to be netted. They
all admired its build, and, as it was the only one of its kind taken
just then, they decided to keep it, so as to say they had eaten
grayling.

The interrupted voyage was thereupon resumed, and a while later they
landed once more to cook a meal; for somehow all declared themselves
hungry for trout, and Francois had admitted that one of the best camping
places along the lower river invited them.

Jimmy, having had nothing else to do while they navigated the stream had
amuse