“I would not have lost them for fifty dollars,” the fisherman raged angrily. “Nothing is safe with this company any more.”
“What was in it?” asked the agent.
The fisherman almost exploded with excitement. “Seven dozen angle worms,” he screamed.
“That’s the reason I got next to the postmaster up here,” Johnson explained, when the laughter had subsided, “the agent said he had some planted.
“I expected to come up here the first of June,” he continued, “but some bloated millionaire out at Minnetonka wanted his forest park trimmed up and I could not resist the temptation to help him out at five dollars per.”
And so he ran on detailing the news of the cities and bringing the camp up-to-date on the doings of the rest of the University. He was perfectly at home. Everyone recognized in Johnson the quick-witted, steady nerved, natural born leader of men. Scott’s old admiration for Johnson grew as he listened to him and his conscience hurt him when he thought that he had never apologized for the boorish manner in which he had received his friendly advice. He longed to grasp his hand now and apologize—he knew Johnson would forgive him with undeserved readiness—but he could not do it before all the fellows and an appointment with Greenleaf to try the trout stream kept him from doing it that night.
But he made a solemn resolution that he would make full reparation to Johnson, and to make sure that it would not be overlooked he stored it away in his memory with the determination to win the ten thousand acres. He felt that the accomplishment of those two things was essential to his happiness.
Scott and Greenleaf hated to miss the news but had to leave the campfire early in order to make the camp near the trout stream, where the firebreak crew was located, before dark. They had planned to sleep at the camp and fish early in the morning.
The other boys all made fun of them because the trout stream had the reputation of being the worst mosquito hole in the park. It was a walk of only two miles and a half, and they soon located the camp on a little knoll near the beautiful spring which formed the source of the trout stream.
The men were smoking around the campfire preparatory to going to bed, for they kept early hours, especially on Friday night, that they might start an hour earlier Saturday morning to get off an hour earlier that night. They were delighted to see the boys, for they had little company, and doubly delighted at the prospect of trout for lunch.