Page 95 - A Little Bush Maid

"Ts he as big as yours, Norah?" queried Jim a minute later, tossing his fish
down on the grass close to his sister and the Hermit.

Norah laid the two fishes alongside.

"Not quite," she announced; "mine’s about an inch longer, and a bit fatter."

"Well, that’s all right," Jim said. "T said it was the grandmother T had--yours
is certainly the grandfather! T’m glad you got the biggest, old girl." They

exchanged a friendly smile.

A yell from Wally intimated that he had something on his hook, and with

immense pride he flourished in the air a diminutive blackfish--so small that
the Hermit proposed to use it for bait, a suggestion promptly declined by

the captor, who hid his catch securely in the fork of two branches, before
re-baiting his hook. Then Harry pulled out a fine perch, and immediately
afterwards Norah caught a blackfish; and after that the fun waxed fast and

furious, the fish biting splendidly, and all hands being kept busy. An hour
later Harry shook the last worm out of the bait tin and dropped it into the

water on his hook, where it immediately was seized by a perch of very
tender years.

"Get back and grow till next year," advised Harry, detaching the little
prisoner carefully, the hook having caught lightly in the side of its mouth.

"T’ll come for you next holidays!" and he tossed the tiny fellow back into
the water. "That’s our last scrap of bait, you chaps," he said, beginning to
wind up his line.

"T’ve been fishing with an empty hook for T don’t know how long," said Jim,

hauling up also. "These beggars have nibbled my bait off and carefully
dodged the hook."

"Well, we’ve plenty, haven’t we?" Norah said. "Just look what a splendid
pile of fish!"