Five Little Friends - Sherred Willcox Adams

They put the paper in the bottle and corked the bottle tightly. Then they threw it out into the ocean. At first the bottle bobbed up and down in the water. But soon a big wave caught it and carried it out of sight.

"Suppose," said Paul, "the bottle goes way out to sea and a big whale swallows it. And suppose it makes the big whale so sick that he swims near to the shore. Then some fishermen will catch him and kill him. When they cut him open they will find the bottle, and when they read our names they will know we are the boys who helped them get the great big whale."

"Or," said Bob, "suppose the bottle goes out to sea and a man in a seaplane sees it and opens it. And suppose he comes flying to Fairport and when he lands here he asks where we are. Then when he finds us he takes us for a long, long ride in his seaplane."

It was great fun supposing. The next morning Bob and Paul went to the beach all ready to have some more supposes.

But what was that small thing lying on the sand? It looked very much like a bottle. Yes, it was. It was the bottle!

Bob picked it up and looked rather disappointed. Paul looked disappointed too. "Our supposes are no good now," he said. "Oh yes," cried Bob, "I know a fine suppose. It's so good it's almost true. Let's pretend a big wave was the parcel postman. When he saw the bottle away out in the ocean with our names in it, he brought it straight to us." "Why, of course," said Paul. "The parcel postman had to bring the bottle to us. He couldn't take it to the whale or to the man with the seaplane. It wasn't addressed to them."

One day Bob's father took Paul and Bob out fishing. They carried their bait in a tin can and they took a larger can to hold their fish. They stood on a high rock and threw their lines out into the deep water. The fish bit very well. Mr. Johnson caught five or six. But the boys were so excited they could not wait. They drew up their lines too soon. Once Paul felt a pull and waited. When he felt another pull he drew in his line. On it was a very tiny fish. "It's too small to keep," said Mr. Johnson. So he took it carefully off the hook and threw it back into the water.

In a little while Bob felt a pull on his line. He held it very still and waited. Soon there was another pull—a very strong one. Then there came a jerk that almost threw him down. "Now draw in your line," said Mr. Johnson. "Steady, steady!" Bob pulled. His line almost broke. He pulled and tugged and pulled again. Then up came the line and on it was a fish—a big, beautiful fish flapping and twisting. "Good, good," cried Mr. Johnson. "That's a prize catch."

How proud Bob felt as he landed his fish. He wouldn't let his father help take it off the hook. He did it all himself. For a moment he stood with the beautiful prize fish in his hand. Some people were fishing near-by and he wanted them to see. He wanted them to know of his prize catch. He felt very proud. "Look," said one of them; "what a great big fish!" Bob heard and felt prouder than ever. He threw his fish into the can as if he were saying, "Oh, that's nothing, I always catch the biggest fish." Then he began to bait his hook again.