"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.
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 shallow water. He made a quick grab at it when it got to him and then, right away, he had his hands full of business. That fish gave a flop with his tail that laid Mr. Dog over on his back and then another flop that set him on his feet again, and a side flop that smacked him against the water first one way and then the other, and made him breathe hard and choke and try to let go.
But Mr. Dog couldn't let go, for he'd got the fish line some way tangled in his teeth. So he began to snap and paw and swallow water, and fall down and get up again, and sprawl about in the swamp grass, trying to get back to shore.