p still, it won't be necessary
for us to go," said Jim.

"Too bad we didn't think of that before we wound in our lines,"
Gerald lamented.

"Well, it's never too late to let them out again," Dorothy said,
coolly.

"Will you promise to be quiet, Dorothy?"

"I promise nothing, Jim Barlow!"

"Oh, come now; don't act contrary!"

"It's not me who's contrary, and you know it very well."

"You said you were going back to camp. Why don't you go?" Molly flung
at them, tauntingly.

"Well, by cracky, we should; it would serve you right," Gerald
responded, slightly impatient. "You girls have no right to treat us
this way. We brought you with us to give you a good time, and it
seems that you might respect our wishes a little. No one can catch
fish with a regular gab-fest going on on the bank."

"Go along and don't bother us," admonished Dorothy.

At that instant her floater began to bob fiercely up and down. There
was a strong tug on her line, and the reel began to revolve at a high
rate of speed, as Mr. Fish, evidently aware that in snapping what
appeared to be a nice, fat fly, he had gotten decidedly the worst of
it, made a desperate effort to get away.

"Hold him!" cried Molly, rising on the bank and waving her arms
excitedly.

"Oh, yes, hold him," said the boys, exchanging glances of amusement.

"Hold him?" Dorothy gritted her teeth. "You just know I'll hold him!
We'll show these young gentlemen that fish _can_ be caught when there
is noise on the bank. Oh, we'll show them!"

The reel was revolving more slowly now, and before the end of the
line was reached, had ceased altogether. Then the girl, a light of
triumph in her eyes, began to wind in her prize. It was a slow task
and a hard one, for when the denizen of the river found he had again
encountered resistance, he renewed his struggle for freedom. Once he
nearly jerked the girl off the bank into the water, greatly to the
delight of Jim and Gerald, who had settled in a comfortable nook
under the trees with the avowed intention of being "in at the
finish." That Dorothy would fail to land the fish they were quite
sure, and to be on hand with a hearty laugh when her disappointment
came, would in a measure atone for the trouble of bringing the girls
on the trip.

Little by little the struggling fish was brought nearer, until, with
a quick jerk of her pole, the girl lifted him clean of the water and
swung him over her head to the shore.

So quickly did it happ