ave gravy on them. Then sometimes we have maple-syrup, and call them
dessert."

"Syrup for me!" said Jack, struggling to turn his fish-cakes without
breaking them. "But I didn't know you were so much of a cook, Father."

"Jack, while we are eating, I'll tell you a true story, one of the dark
secrets of my eventful life; that will explain to you why I believe a
man should know how to cook."

So when the pancakes were finished and Jack had time to listen, his
father told him the story of how, when they were first married, the
Blairs had taken a trip across the prairie, and had camped a long way
from a town; how Mother Blair had been taken ill and could not do the
cooking, and poor Father Blair had to do everything for her and himself
too, and did not know how to cook an egg, or make a cup of tea, or a bit
of toast; and what a time it was! "I tell you, Jack, after that was
over, I went to work and learned how to do a few things; and now, as you
say," he added complacently, "I'm quite a cook. And the sooner you learn
to cook, the better, for some day you'll need to know how; all men do."

"S'pose so," Jack murmured thoughtfully.

[Illustration: The Next Day was Perfect for Fishing]

The next day was perfect for trout-fishing, so they started early with
some lunch, and went back into the deep woods where there was a brown
stream all full of little rocks and hollows, and there Jack took his
first lesson in fly-fishing, and at night he was the proudest of boys
when they looked at their basket of speckled beauties, four of which he
had caught. It was great fun to cook them too, when they got back to
camp.

SMALL FISH, BROILED

Clean the fish; put them on a green stick, passing it through
their gills; put a slice of bacon or salt pork between each two
fish; have a hot bed of coals, and hold them over this till done,
turning often.

Several of the larger ones they strung on a string and put away in a
dark, cool place among the rocks, and kept them till the next day, when
they cooked them in a different way, and had:

PANNED FISH

Clean the fish; cut off the heads and break the spines, to keep
them from curling as they cook. Put three slices of bacon or pork
into a frying-pan, and, when this is done, take it out and put in
the fish; cook quickly and turn often.

One day a rain-storm came on, so they could not go fishing, but had to
stay in and play games and read and write let