“Will you come and show us a good place, then, Nat?” said Fred, for Scarlett was a little puzzled as to what was going on.
“Yes; I’ll show you,” said the gardener, who, like most of his class, was as much interested in the chance of a little fishing as the boys themselves. So, swinging himself into the boat, he took the oars, and, to the great relief of the two lads, rowed right away towards where a little rivulet entered the lake.
“Glad I saw what you were both going to do,” continued Nat. “Only waste of time muddling in there among the wood. You might catch a few perch or an old carp, but that would be about all.”
Ten minutes later he ceased rowing in front of the mouth of the rivulet.
“There,” he said; “set your lines about here, and you’ll catch as many as you want, and—breakfast-time. Let’s get ashore.”
Chapter Twelve.
The Colonel’s Message.
No farther visit was paid to the passage that day; but the next, in the afternoon, the boys made their way down toward the lake, and met Nat, who approached them with rather a mysterious look on his face.