Boy Scouts of the Air on Lost Island | Page 2

Tree Point--and that'll save us the long pull through the
slough."
The boys picked up the great load of luggage, which was not so big
when divided among four boys, and hustled out of the Ring yard and
down the dusty road. They were four of a size; that is, Tod Fulton was
tall and somewhat flattened out, while Frank Ellery was more or less all
in a bunch, as Jerry said, who was himself sturdily put together. Dave
Thomas was neither as tall as Tod nor as stocky as Frank; He looked
undersized, in fact. But his "red hair and readier tongue," his friends

declared, more than made up for any lack of size. At any rate, no one
ever offered a second time to carry the heaviest end of the load.
Now, as they walked along through the back streets of Watertown,
rightly named as it was in the midst of lakes, creeks and rivers, they
began a discussion that never grew old with them. Tod began it.
"We've got plenty of worms, for once."
"Good!" cried Dave. "I've thought of a dandy scheme, but it'd take a
pile of bait."
"What's that?" asked Jerry, suspecting mischief.
"You know, you can stretch out a worm to about three inches. Tie
about a hundred together--allow an inch apiece for the knot--that would
make two hundred inches, or say seventeen feet. Put the back end of the
line about a foot up on the bank and the other end out in the water.
Along comes a carp--the only fish that eats _worms_--and starts eating.
He gets so excited following up his links of worm- weenies, that he
doesn't notice he's up on shore, when suddenly Tod Fulton, mighty
fisherman, grabs him by the tail and flips him----"
"Yes--where does he flip him?" Tod had dropped his share of the
luggage and now had Dave by the back of the neck.
"Back into the water and makes him eat another string of worms as
punishment for being a carp."
"You with your old dead minnows!" exclaimed Tod, giving Dave a
push that sent him staggering. "Last time we went, all you caught was a
dogfish and one starved bullhead. There's more real fish that'll bite on
worms than on any other bait. I've taken trout and even black bass.
Early in the morning I can land pickerel and croppies where a minnow
or a frog could sleep on the end of a six pounder's nose. Don't tell me."
"Yes," put in Jerry, "and I can sit right between the two of you and with
my number two Skinner and a frog or a bacon rind pull 'em out while

you fellows go to sleep between nibbles."
"Bully!" exclaimed Frank. "Every time we go home after a trip, you
hang a sign on your back: 'Fish for Sale,' with both s's turned
backwards. I'm too modest to mention the name of the boy who caught
the largest black bass ever hooked in Plum Run, but I can tell you the
kind of fly the old boy took, all the same."
"Testimony's all in," laughed Tod, good-humoredly. "And here we are
at the dock of the 'Big Four.'"
"Yes, and there goes Porter up around the bend. We row our boat to-
day. We ought to get up a show or something and raise enough money
to buy a motor."
"I move we change our plans and leave Round Lake for another trip." It
was lazy Frank who made the proposal.
"What difference does it make to you? You never row anyway. Plum
Run's too high for anything but still fishing----"
"I saw Hunky Doran coming back from Parry's Dam day before
yesterday and he had a dandy string."
"Sure. He always does. Bet you he dopes his bait," declared Tod.
"Well, you spit on the worm yourself. The dam isn't half as far as Dead
Tree, and, besides, we can always walk across to Grass Lake. Jerry
votes for the dam, don't you, Jerry?"
But Jerry only shrugged his shoulders. Frank and Tod always disagreed
on fishing places, largely because their styles of angling were different
and consequently a good place for one was the poorest place in the
world for the other. So Jerry, who usually was the peacemaker, said
nothing but unlocked the padlock which secured the boat, tossed the
key-ring to Dave with, "Open the boathouse and get two pair of oars.
Tod, take a squint at the sun--five-thirty, isn't it? An hour and a half to
the Dead Tree, and an hour more to Round Lake. What kind of fish can

you take in old Roundy after eight o'clock?"
"Oh, I knew we were going to the dam, all right. I give in. But if I've
got to go where I