They fished for a long time without getting even a nibble. But then Jack felt a gentle tug, and, after some little excitement, managed to bring out a fair-sized catch.
"Hurrah! The first fish!" he cried, holding it up proudly.
"And may he be the forerunner of many more," proclaimed Spouter.
"I want a whale," declared Randy.
Such a catch was an incentive to all of the others to do their best, and as a result inside of three hours the lads had eleven fish between them, some of fair size and others quite small, one, in fact, so tiny that it was thrown back into the stream, "so it might grow a little," as Fred expressed it.
"One o'clock!" announced Gif, looking at his watch. "I think we had better go back to the Lodge and have some of these fish fried for dinner."
"Second the commotion!" cried Randy quickly.
Properly fried, the freshly-caught fish proved delicious eating, and the boys lingered over the repast while a scrap of those which had been served was left. Half of the catch was packed away in snow to be served at another time.
The day had just come to an end when the boys heard a jingle of sleighbells on the road, and then came a whistle.
"It's Jed Wallop," announced Gif.