"Going fishing, Curly?" she said wistfully.
"Yep."
"Where are they biting now?"
"There's carp and bream under the old mill-dam up in Norman's Woods. I saw 'em jumping there to-day."
"Oh! when are you going?" gasped the girl, hungry for outdoor sport and adventure.
"In the morning—before you're up," said the boy, rather sullenly.
"I wager I'll be awake," said Ruth, sitting down beside him. "I wake up—oh, just awfully early! and lie and think."
Curly looked at her. "That don't get you nothin'," he said.
"But I can't help it."
"Gran says you're overworked," Curly said. "Why don't you run away from school if they make you work so hard? I would. Our teacher's sick so there isn't any session at the district school to-morrow."