are
obliged to. So I shall not say any more. Do as you please, this time.'

"Charles thought a moment or two. He saw plainly enough that there were two
sides to the question about going a-fishing that day. His mother was not
very well. He thought of that; and he thought that if he went, she would
have more work to do, and perhaps she would then be quite sick. His
conscience was at work, you see. 'Well,' he thought, 'I guess I will let
the trout stay where they are to-day,' But just then he heard one of the
boys say, 'Halloo, Charley! what do you say? We're tired of waiting. Shall
we go without you, or will you come along?'

"Well, what do you think Charley did, Robert?"

"Why, he stayed at home, and helped his mother, of course."

"No, I'm sorry to say that he changed his mind, and started off with the
boys. His conscience said _no_, but his will said _yes_."

"Then he did very wrong."

"So I think. But the truth must be told. Charley took his fishing
apparatus, and whistled for his little dog, Caper, and away the three boys
ran, toward the brook.

"'Let's go to the deep hole under the elm tree. That's where Bill Havens
caught the big trout, the other day,' said one.

"Bill Havens, as they called him, was one of the most noted fishermen in
the place. I knew him well. He was always sure to succeed, wherever and
whenever he went out with his hook and line. I have been to this deep hole
with Bill Havens, more than once, and have seen him catch half a dozen
large pickerel, when I could not, by any of my skill, persuade a single
fish to come out of the brook.

[Illustration: BILL HAVENS AT THE DEEP HOLE.]

"'But we shall have to cross the brook,' said Charley, 'and how in the
world are we going to do that? The foot-bridge was swept away by the
freshet, you know.'

"'Oh, I'll see about that. I know where there's an old tree that lies clear
across the stream. We can get over on that, just as well as we could over
the foot-bridge,'

"And so they started for the old tree, which was to serve them for a
bridge. It had been blown down by the wind, and had fallen across the
stream, so that the large end rested on the side where the boys were, while
the upper limbs reached the opposite bank. When the boys got to the tree,
they saw that it was not quite so convenient a bridge as they could wish;
and Charley Mason, who was not by any means a headstrong lad, and not used
to such adventures, said he would rather not attempt