“We could use Teddy for bait,” suggested Julius.
“I wouldn’t advise a small fish to swaller me,” said Teddy. “I’d dance a double shuffle in his stomach, and he’d soon want ter let me go.”
The boys enjoyed floating about, and time passed quickly.
“What time is it?” asked Tom.
Julius drew out his watch with an air.
“It’s five o’clock,” he said.
“We ought ter be goin’ back; Mr. O’Connor told us we must be back in time.”
They turned the boat toward shore, when all at once Tom, who was looking toward the shore, exclaimed, “What’s that, boys?”
Following the direction in which he pointed, the boys were startled by seeing a large, clumsy animal walking deliberately down toward the place where they were about to land.
They paused in their progress, and Julius, after a{59} careful examination of the stranger, announced, “I’ll tell you what it is, boys; it’s a bear!”