Next day the boys each hunted up a pair of old boots which they had used the winter before. The leather was so dry and worn that the boots hurt their growing feet cruelly, but they brought the boots along to put on when they reached the swamp. This time, each took a gun, and they also carried an axe, for now they had determined on a plan for capturing the hogs.
"I wish we had let Peter and Cole come," said Willy, dolefully, sitting on the butt end of a log they had cut, and wiping his face on his sleeve.
"Or had asked Uncle Balla to help us," added Frank.
"They'd be certain to tell all about it."
They settled down in silence, and panted.
"I tell you what we ought to do! Bait the hog-path, as you would for fish." This was the suggestion of the angler, Frank.
"With what?"
"Acorns."
The acorns were tolerably plentiful around the roots of the big oaks, so the boys set to work to pick them up. It was an easier job than cutting the log, and it was not long before each had his hat full.