ugh to reach!"

The little boy steadied himself by a limb that projected from the log
and swung his line in the direction the Bear had indicated. Then he
waited, holding his breath almost, and watching his float, which lay
silently on the water. Horatio was watching, too, with half closed eyes,
and now and then giving instructions.

"Pull it a little more to the right, Bo--nearer that root," he
whispered.

Bosephus obeyed, but the float still lay silently on the water.

"Draw it a little toward you, Bo; sometimes when they think its going
away they make a rush for it."

Again the little boy did as directed, but without result.

"Lift out your bait and see if it's all right. Now fling it a little
further toward the bank."

Bo lifted out the bait, which was still lively and untouched, and flung
it far over toward the other shore. Then he waited in silence once more,
but there was no sign of even so much as a nibble.

"Oh, pshaw, Ratio!" he said at last impatiently. "I don't believe you
know anything about fishing. Either that or there are no fish in
here--one of the two."

He had turned his head toward the Bear as he spoke and was not looking
at his float. All at once the Bear sat straight up, pointing at the
water.

"Your cork's gone!" he shouted. "You've got one! Pull, Bo, pull!"

The little boy turned so quickly that he almost lost his balance and
could not immediately obey. Horatio was wild with excitement.

"Why don't you pull?" he howled. "Do you expect him to climb up your
pole? Are you waiting for him to make his toilet before he appears?
Well, talk about fishermen!"

Bosephus was struggling madly to follow instructions. He was holding to
the dead limb like grim death and pulling fiercely at the pole with one
hand. The fish must be a large one, for it swung furiously from side to
side, but could not be brought to the surface. Horatio on the bank was
still shouting and dancing violently.

"You'll lose him!" he yelled; "you'll never in the world land him that
way. You ought to go fishing for tin fish in a tub! Just let me out
there; I'll show you how to fish!" and Horatio made a rush toward the
log on which Bo was standing.

[Illustration: "PULL, BO, PULL!"]

"Go back! Go back!" screamed the little boy. "It won't hold us both!"
But the Bear was too much excited by this time to heed any caution. He
hurried to the centre of the log and seizing the pole from Bo's hand
gave a fierce pull. The fish s