o with the girls, fellows, and help them while
you are getting things ready."

Their present elation was very different from the apathy which had
possessed them so short a time before. Indeed, Mollie's description of
the fishing pool was very alluring.

"Whereabouts did you see the tackle, Mollie?" Will asked, as they
entered the house.

"Oh, I can find it," said Mollie with conviction. "I think there were
four rods. I hope I wasn't mistaken."

"If you were," said Amy, "one of us will have to sit still and watch!"

"And I think I know who that will be," said Will with a sly glance at
his sister.

"Just for that," Grace retorted, "I'll show you the best catch of the
day."

"We shall see," said Mollie, opening the door of a small closet under
the stairs. "Look," she added, "there they are. You're a judge of rods,
Will--how do these look?"

Will took them in his hands and examined them minutely. "They're
pippins!" he exclaimed joyfully. "I don't know when I've seen a better
outfit. You ought to be able to catch all the fish in the lake with
these, girls," and he regarded them admiringly.

"We'd better watch out for the boys," said Amy, wisely, as they left the
house. "They will be exchanging their rods for ours, if we aren't
careful."

They all laughed, including Mrs. Irving, who had come downstairs. She
had not been feeling well of late--the heat had been too much for
her--but she had announced a strong desire to accompany the young folks,
if they went very far from home.

They found the three boys industriously digging worms, and so intent
were they in this absorbing occupation that they did not look up when
the party approached.

"What are you doing?" Grace asked, and then, as Allen held up a
wriggling candidate for the hook, she shivered and drew back in disgust.

"Ugh," she said, "how I hate the nasty things! Somebody will have to
bait my hook for me. I couldn't do it in a million years."

"All right, nobody asked you to. How's that for a good fat one, eh?"
asked Roy, as he held up an unusually fine one for her inspection.

"Why is it boys always have to tease?" Betty asked of the world in
general. "We know you have to have worms for bait, but that doesn't
make us like to look at them."

"Well, I guess that's enough," said Allen, clapping the top on the big
tin box, and getting to his feet. "Now if the fish don't like the bait
any better than you girls, I shouldn't wonder if we got done out of our