“It’s just like Hank McBride to leave me to do all the work and then come in when everything’s ready,” growled George, as he placed a small iron pot over the wood and started a fire.
“What do you do it for, then?” inquired Bob, lazily.
“Hey? Oh, I have to. Hank’s been here longer’n I have, and what he says most generally has to be done.”
Neither of the boys continued the discussion, however, for just then they discovered Hank approaching with their friends. In a moment his boat was grounded, and before any one could leap ashore, Jock and Bob ran hastily toward them.
“What did you get? Where’s your catch?” inquired Jock, eagerly.
When the fish box was opened before them they could instantly see that the catch was greater than their own; but they made no comments, and returned with their friends to view their own fish.
“They aren’t all there,” declared George, who now joined them for a moment. “I’m cleaning some for dinner, and, besides, we didn’t save the little fellows. They’d add to the weight, of course; but it didn’t seem fair to keep ’em just for that. My plan is to throw ’em back and let ’em grow up.”
Hank smiled, and, looking for a moment at the catch, said, “Pooty fair! Pooty good! Ye did real well, George, for a beginner.”
George smiled disdainfully, but the threatened rupture was averted by the necessity of both boatmen joining in the preparations for dinner. It was soon discovered that the intense heat had curdled the milk, which had been brought in glass jars, and that no coffee could be made, but all seemed to consider that a light matter when at last they were summoned by the boatmen.
The dinner was not unlike that which Ethan had prepared at Goose Bay, and the appetites of the boys were so keen that they declared it was a repast fit for a king; and indeed it was. The successful sport of the morning provided an added zest, if such an addition was necessary, and as they ate their dinner, seated as they were in the grateful shade of the majestic maples, it seemed to them all that never had they enjoyed anything more. Before them was the great river, its waters still rushing forward from the force of the fall at the Longue Seaut Rapids. In the distance on the island they could see barns and farmhouses, and over all was the peace of the perfect summer day.