Boy Scouts of the Air on Lost Island

ard, only pausing from their scanning of the beclouded, dawn-hinting sky to peer

a light showing," grumbled the

a light. Tod never failed us yet, Frank, and he

. Frank and I would have stopped off for him, only we was so sure he'd be

we were sitting on the porch along comes his father-you know how absent-minded he is-and re

s why Tod isn'

g so early in the morning, your short-circuit brain sho

he was to pick four quarts of blackberries and take them over to your Aun

announced

near-by elm and now slid suddenly down into the midst of the piled-up fishing

oy, in loose-fitting overalls and pale blue shir

t I had to pick those berries before I went, and it took m

ry greenest one of all al

e first time. "I didn't know kindergarten was closed for

e with pretended weariness

ll day! I move we get a hike on down to the boat. Maybe we can hitch on behind Steve Porter's

l and somewhat flattened out, while Frank Ellery was more or less all in a bunch, as Jerry said, who was himself sturdily put together. Dave Thomas was neither as tall as Tod nor as stocky as Frank; He looked

ightly named as it was in the midst of lakes, creeks and rivers, t

lenty of wor

hought of a dandy scheme, b

sked Jerry, susp

n feet. Put the back end of the line about a foot up on the bank and the other end out in the water. Along comes a carp-the only fish that eats worms-and starts eating. He get

dropped his share of the luggage and

him eat another string of worms

ish and one starved bullhead. There's more real fish that'll bite on worms than on any other bait. I've taken trout and even black bass. Ea

you and with my number two Skinner and a frog or a bacon rind

ale,' with both s's turned backwards. I'm too modest to mention the name of the boy who caught the large

, good-humoredly. "And here we ar

row our boat to-day. We ought to get up a show or

e Round Lake for another trip." It w

You never row anyway. Plum Run's too

rom Parry's Dam day before yeste

. Bet you he dopes hi

s far as Dead Tree, and, besides, we can always walk acros

ce in the world for the other. So Jerry, who usually was the peacemaker, said nothing but unlocked the padlock which secured the boat, tossed the key-ring to Dave with, "Open the boathouse and get two

I give in. But if I've got to go where I don't

ishes in one place all day, but he's got to have the boat-and forgets

ballast, and Dave up ahead to watch the channel, for Plum Run, unbelievably deep in places, had a trick of shallow

ised his hand and said instead: "Understand me, boys, I'm the last one in the world to kick-you know me. But there

" cried

note swell out upon the breeze, to frighten beasts and men-and f

And then, amid the laughter of his three companions, Dave ended his wail and instead broke into a lively b

t, they swung straight ahead down stream. Before long the last house of Watertown, where people were fast beginning to stir, had faded from view. They passed safely through the ripples of the shoals above Barren

ts treacherous quarter mile of boiling length. Then came a so-called lake, Old Grass, with the real Grass Lake barely visible through its circle of trees. A crystal-clear creek was its outlet to Plum Run, a thousand

e to real river size, its waters penned back by concrete

" decided Frank. "There's a weedy little bight up the

working toward the dam, I guess.

oat awhile, I reckon.

grunt

I take it?" i

shing

ng with worms or grubs; he liked to sit and dream while the bait did the work; but his quarreling with Dave and Frank was mostly make-believe. Jerry, the best fisherman of the four, believed, as he said, in "making the

ine, was only an excuse. Throw-lines with a half dozen hooks were his favorites, and a big catfish his high

up?" he called

e a bit first, and, anyway, she can't drift upstream." S

ginal stream. Concrete abutments secured these timbers and linked the walls of stone with the huge gates opening into the millrace that fed the water to the ponderous undershot millwheel. Just now the gates were open and the water rushed through with de

better; this part of the river was shallow; when the water rose, big fish would be coming in to scour over the fresh feeding grounds. S

out and try my l

. Best try some grubs or worms, tho

m. "Water sure is filling up, isn't she? Guess the

ll be a backwater as soon as the current starts going over the dam. Another six inches

Look at him bending to it. It's a big

pole and starting across the slippery rocks on the run. "If he doesn

hed a big soap bubble swelling the one last impossible breath; you have seen a camp coffee kettle boiling higher and higher till splush! the steaming brown mass hea

great rush of suddenly foaming flood, over