ng on
the end of a log, fishing and waiting for them, nobody but Mr. Dog
himself.

That wasn't very much, of course, but it was plenty for Mr. 'Possum. He
quit laughing and tumbled down in the bottom of the boat and laid there
calling for Jack Rabbit to cut that fishline or they'd all be chops and
steaks and carried home in a basket in less than five minutes. Jack
Rabbit did try to cut the line, too, but he was so excited he dropped
his knife overboard, and Mr. 'Coon couldn't find his, and Mr. 'Possum
didn't have any. So there they were, and there was Mr. Dog! Then Mr.
Rabbit tried to bite the line off with his teeth, but he couldn't do
that, either, for it was a big, strong line that he'd made himself,
'specially for big fish.

And all the time they were getting closer and closer to the shore, and
Mr. Dog had lifted his line out of the water so it wouldn't be in his
way, and was sitting there waiting, and smiling to see them come.

Then Jack Rabbit knew that something had to be done, and there was no
time to lose. He was just about as scared as he could be, but he knew it
wouldn't do any good to let on, so he sat up straight and smiled some,
too, and looked at Mr. Dog and called out, big and friendly like:

"Hello, Mr. Dog! Here we come! Here we come with a nice dinner, Mr.
Dog!"

Then Mr. Dog laughed and called back:

"That's right, Mr. Rabbit. There's a sure enough nice dinner coming,
this time! Fish for the first course, Mr. Rabbit!"

When Mr. 'Possum heard that he began to groan, and Jack Rabbit and Mr.
'Coon began to shiver, for each thought he knew pretty well what the
next courses of Mr. Dog's dinner would be. But Mr. Rabbit didn't stop
smiling or let on that he knew, and he called out again to Mr. Dog,
quick:

"You'll have to help us if we have fish, Mr. Dog! He's a big one and
you'll have to help us catch him!"

And Mr. Dog called back again:

"Don't worry, Mr. Rabbit! I won't leave! I'll be on hand when you get
here, Mr. Rabbit!"

Then he rolled up his trousers a little and waded out into the shallow
water, thinking he would nab Mr. Fish first and drag him out on shore,
and then pull the boat right in after him.

[Illustration: THE FIGHT BETWEEN MR. DOG AND THE BIG FISH.]

Of course, that was a pretty good plan for Mr. Dog, only like some other
good plans, it didn't work just as he expected it to. You see, he didn't
quite know how big the fish was, nor how hard a big fish is to handle in
sha