"The boat leaves at six-thirty so we haven't much time to lose," said Mr. Waterman.
"We'll be with you in a minute," said Bob.
The boys hurried upstairs and came down with their dunnage bags. They had expected to carry these down to the boat, but a little hotel cart came along and took them down. They had a few minutes to spare as they arrived at the wharf, so they went out to the little observation house in the middle of the pond right near the wharf. This pond was used by the Government as a Fishery Station and there were scores of magnificent salmon in the pond. The boys were much interested in watching these wonderful game fish. They could see them swimming around and occasionally one of them would jump clear out of the water after a fly or some other insect.
"We'll have to catch a few like those this summer," said Mr. Waterman with a glistening eye.
"Will we really have a chance to catch salmon as large as those?" asked Bob.
"Oh, yes, on our Portneuf River trip, we should get some salmon just as fine as these," said Mr. Waterman.
"What do you catch them with? I'm sure I have nothing big enough to hold a fish like that," said Pud.
"We catch them with the regular rod and fly," replied their leader.
"Don't say 'we'; say 'I' catch them, for I should think it would have to be a real fisherman that could land such a big fish with such a small line and rod," said Pud.
"That's why we're coming up here," said Bill Williams. "My ambition is to get one of those salmon and I don't want it unless I can catch it with my regular tackle."