had heard the remark. "You'll get a real callous there before the summer
is over. Just for curiosity, feel Pierre's neck some time. He has been
at this all his life, and he has a regular muscle there."

What those hungry fellows did to that pot-pie would be a shame to tell.
It disappeared very quickly, while the biscuits that Jack made tasted
even better than those that mother used to bake. Even the big dish of
prunes that topped off the meal was relished.

"Take me to my little bed," said Pud as, with a sigh, he saw the last
prune disappear from his plate.

"Impossible, impossible," said Bob. "I think after that meal that you'll
have to go around and not dare to cross the bridge over the trout pond.
You'll break through."

"Not an extra step," said Pud. "In fact, I've been wondering for the
last five minutes if I can get to my tent. I'm so stiff I can hardly
move." It was indeed only with difficulty that Pud could navigate, for
he had put in a hard day for a fat boy.

"If I survive the summer," said Pud, with a twinkle in his eye, "just
watch me tear that old line to pieces this fall. This life should put
the stuff into anybody."

"Yes," said Mr. Waterman, as he winked at Bob, "this was a rather easy
day. Later we'll do some real work and cover some ground. I wanted to
break you in easily at first."

"Now, what do you think of that?" queried Pud of Bill, as they crossed
the trout pond to their tent. "He says this is an easy day. I wonder
what he thinks of doing when he gets real strenuous?"

"I guess he was joking," replied Bob. "Personally, I think that we had
just about all the exercise to-day that we need."

"Jack's some cook, isn't he?" queried Bill, as they sat before the fire
a short time later.

"We're all agreed on that," said Bob. "I never tasted a better supper
than we had."

"If we can get some duck and partridge now and then, we'll certainly
live high," said Pud. "I could get along with the trout alone, for I
have never tasted anything better than that."

"I was going over and make the guides tell me some of their experiences
to-night," said Bob. "To tell the truth, I'm tired, and I think I'll get
to bed early. Anyway, I think I'd better wait a while until I get back
my French again. They talk pretty good French. It's a sort of dialect,
but I can understand them pretty well. I am told that it is easier to
understand their patois or dialect than many of the dialects in France
itself."

Shor