"Bob's going to join the S.P.C.A. soon," laughed Eleanor.
"No, I'm not, but horses will last longer if you feed and rest them,
and I do not care to walk home!" retorted Barbara.
"I brought my fishing tackle, girls, and while you are unpacking dinner
I may as well cast for a few trout in that stream," suggested Polly.
"Can you fish trout?" exclaimed Barbara, wonderingly.
"Can a bird fly?" laughed Anne.
"The idea! A westerner and _not_ know how to fish!" scorned Eleanor.
But Barbara was not sensitive to-day so did not feel offended at these
remarks; neither did she take pains to disguise her real sentiments
when it would have been kinder to keep silence on a subject.
Having reached the base of the cliff, the girls found a delightful spot
for the luncheon. The packs were slipped from Choko and he, with the
other mounts, were hobbled and left to graze on the buffalo grass in
the clearing.
The girls unpacked a pannier while Polly arranged her tackle and
started for the top of the cliff whence fell the water.
"Let me go with you, Poll, and watch?" asked Eleanor.
"If you won't speak, and mind you don't slip and fall!"
"I won't," promised Eleanor, crawling up after the sure-footed Polly
until both reached the top. To their surprise, the girls found a cleft
between two great rocks with a quiet pool resting at the base. The
current passed, rushing onward to the Falls, but the water circulating
in the nook scarcely rippled. Even as the two girls watched, a flash of
a speckled back flounced up in play and splashed their shoes.
"_What_ a spot for trout!" whispered Polly, crawling out to the rim of
a rock while Eleanor watched breathlessly.
"Not too far out, Poll!" whispered Eleanor, anxiously, as Polly leaned
over the edge to gaze into the clear depths.
Without a word, Polly carefully cast her fly far out upon the smooth
surface of the sparkling water. Then flashes deep down, and in
incredibly short time a large speckled trout rose to the bait, and
Polly felt her nerves tauten with the excitement of the sportsman.
Eleanor held her breath for fear the trout would disappear.
Polly landed that one, weighing at least three pounds, then caught two
more, weighing about two pounds each.
"Guess these will be enough for this noon. No use catching more than we
need!" remarked Polly, coming back to Eleanor's side.
The girls hastened down the rocks and brought the fish over to the
place where Polly expected to find a good fire burning.
"Why, I don't see any fire--didn't you build one for the fish?" cried
Polly.
"You didn't tell us to! Anyway, what would we make it with--no matches
and no kindlings!" replied Barbara.
"Can't you girls start fire with flint--or some sticks?" asked Polly,
curiously.
"The only fire I can light is with a safety match and the valve of a
gas-stove!" replied Barbara, quaintly.
The others considered her remark very funny and Polly promised to teach
them how to make a fire with two sticks only!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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