id, Phil," he said, modestly. "Climb on 'gator back while
Injun boy thar, push him off, an' keep up game. Never let Injun beat
me. But McGee, he shake his head when I tell him, an' look hard at me.
Then he larf, an' jest turn 'way."

"I guess he knew there was just no use trying to hold you back, Tony.
Say, Larry, are you going to try for fish this evening?" Phil called
out.

"I'm ready right now, with some of those nice fat grubs Tony caught
me," replied the other, coming out of the boat with dry clothes on.

"Well," continued Phil, "I wanted to say that after all that row here,
the chances are you'd never get a bite in a coon's age. If I were you
I'd just go up the shore a bit."

"Why up instead of down?" asked Larry, always curious to know the why
and wherefore of everything, as a budding lawyer should.

"For one thing, you muddied the water below," Phil went on. "Then
again, perhaps you noticed that the old mossback headed downstream; and
so the chances are the fish might be scared away for some distance."

"Oh! now I catch on to what you mean, Phil," Larry spoke up. "But you
see, there are so many things I don't know about woodcraft, that I've
just got to keep asking questions. Then I'll go upstream, and try my
luck."

"Be careful not to get out of sight of the boat," warned the other.

Larry looked a bit dubious at these words. He stood there for a minute
as if hesitating whether to go or not. But like most boys he disliked
to have a chum imagine he were capable of showing the white feather; so
presently he sauntered off.

Phil had been observing him out of the corner of his eye, and chuckled
a little at noting how loth Larry seemed to be to depart. But Phil did
not mean to let the other get out of his sight at this interesting
stage of the game. Larry had a weakness for doing just the things he
ought to avoid. He could get lost, or fall overboard, or even tumble
into a bed of soft ooze, quicker than any one Phil knew.

So, in a few minutes he picked up the gun, and said in a low tone to
Tony, who was doing something aboard the boat:

"Guess I'll take a little circuit around for a few minutes. I won't go
far; but I want to keep an eye on Larry. He seems to have a weakness
for tumbling in; or having something out of the way happen to him. And
just now, you know, Tony, when we're so close to your home, I'd hate to
have an accident happen to break up all my plans."

Tony did not reply, th