. I should like to see if the flavor is better."

They expected their fishermen to drift in about five, and knew they
would bring their fish to the house to display them before taking them
down to the spring stream. Hurrying home, they put away the team and
took their fish down to the spring house. Captain Clarke had saved a
considerable part of their take alive for them, in a wooden cask, which
Wing carefully loaded into the spring wagon. They got a piece of chicken
wire and fastened it across the opening where the water flowed out
underneath the spring house, and then, removing the milk and butter
crocks from the rock-lined channel, turned all the living fish into the
water. The others they spread out on the rock floor to make the best
showing possible. The spring house seemed alive with fish.

"They'll never beat that!" Alice's eyes were dancing.

"I don't see how they can." Marian chuckled. "My lofty spouse will have
to come down off his high horse this time."

"Don't breathe a word, girls. I don't want them to have the least
inkling of what we have been up to, till they see this array."

The fishermen arrived, hot, dusty, and hungry. After all their efforts,
their supplies had hardly kept pace with their appetites. They displayed
their booty proudly. Frank had three trout and five catfish on his
string. Dick, one trout, and three catfish. Dr. Morton and the boys had
pooled theirs, and boasted twelve altogether. But most of the fish were
small. The ladies obligingly went into ecstasies over their skill.
Chicken Little and Katy admired and ohed and ahed until Marian was
afraid they would rouse suspicion.

"Do you want them all here at the house or shall we put part of them
down at the spring?" Frank asked, with emphasis on the all.

"Oh, since there are so many, perhaps you'd better put some away for
breakfast," Marian replied, after an instant's consideration.

Frank, Dick and the boys started for the spring. The three girls rose to
accompany them. Alice and Marian looked languidly uninterested.

The spring house was very dark and shadowy, coming in from the bright
sunshine outside. Frank was in the lead. He stopped just in time to
avoid stepping on a fish. He and Dick got their eyes focused to take in
the display at almost the same instant.

"Well, I'll be darned!" Frank looked at Dick in wild amaze. Dick stared,
speechless, for fully twenty seconds. Then he broke into a roar. The
boys, a few paces behind