“That’s a point of land marked on my chart. Just back of it lies a big natural cranberry marsh, where the reds grow thick in the fall; but you see, it’s so far from everywhere, that few of them ever get to market.”
“I want to step back, and take a look at that same marsh myself,” remarked Dolph. “Don’t believe I ever saw a real wild cranberry bog, though I’ve been in one down in New Jersey near Barnagat, where they cultivated the berries. I was having one of those famous sneakboats built by an old bayman, and paid him a visit to try how it worked that fall, on the waters there, with a few ducks coming in. Going to land right here, Teddy?”
“Amos has picked out the best place; trust his eagle eye for seeing it. Run her up alongside his canoe. That’s the ticket. Now, all ashore and stretch!”
It certainly felt good to be able to stand up, and get what Teddy called the “kinks” out of their legs.
As it had been decided to spend some little time here, seeing they could now easily reach their intended destination ere nightfall, Amos started a fire, meaning to have a pot of cheering coffee. Teddy busied himself about something that he had laid out to do, while on the river that morning; and Dolph, to pass the time away, sauntered back, to find a way of looking over the cranberry marsh.
He came back presently, and began to take out a fishing rod, quite a stiff one in the bargain.
“What’s up?” demanded Teddy, watching these preparations curiously. “Thought you said you didn’t expect to catch a fish until we got to the lake?”
“Well, I don’t,” replied the other, chuckling, “you wouldn’t call frogs fish, now, would you?”
“Frogs! Oh! I see, you’ve discovered that the grunting we heard back there came from a colony of big greenbacks, eh? Well, I hope you’ve got some red flannel, or if not, then a red ibis bass fly along with you. They’ll jump at it like hot cakes; and you’ll nearly die laughing to see the circus that takes place when they find that they just can’t let go. But I see you know all about it, because you’ve shortened your line to a foot, and fastened it around your reel handle. Going to put ’em in that covered bucket, are you? Well, good luck! A dozen saddles wouldn’t be any too big a mess, Dolph. Call you when the coffee is boiling.”