"I—guess—he's—a—butter—fish!" he gasped. "He's so slippery——"
And then, losing his balance on the log, Russ Bunker fell right into the deep pool with splash enough to frighten all the fishes for yards around!
CHAPTER XIV
MAMMY JUNE HELPS
Of course, Russ Bunker should not have done it. He was always ready to try new things and wasn't much afraid of anything that turned up. But trying to catch a big catfish with his hands was ridiculous.
Perhaps he realized this when he fell off the log into the stream; but it was too late then to know how foolish it was.
The chorus of screams from the children on the bank was the first announcement that Mammy June had of the mischief that was afoot. The colored children shouted and Frane, Junior, ran right off the log and came screaming to the cabin:
"He's gone down! He's gone down!"
"What is the matter with you, Frane?" demanded the old woman, coming heavily down off the porch. "Who's gone down? Wha's he gone down to?"