“Because my mother said that I could go fishing this day and I would like you, my friend, to go with me. I have a great deal of good fishing equipment, and there is still one canoe left at the shore of the great lake. Can you come with me?” Quarter Moon thought for a moment, especially of the work he was supposed to do that day. Finally he said, “Wait, I will go and ask my mother.” With that he disappeared into the wigwam and in a moment was out again, smiling. “My mother says that I may go, but that I must be back when the sun has climbed to the highest point in the sky. For any day now, my father is expected back and I have not completed the chores he gave me to do when he left.” “Come then,” said Little Elk. “We must hurry.” The two boys ran to the lake shore and, after placing their fishing equipment in the canoe, they stepped in and pushed away from the shore. “We will paddle along the shore,” said Little Elk. The Indians of the Northeast made fishing tackle from young basswood saplings and made their hooks from bone. With these they were able to catch the mighty muskellunge of the northern waters and supplemented their fresh meat diet with lake fish. The boys paddled for quite some time before they dropped their lines into the water. They had picked a good spot because in a matter of minutes they had several fish in the floor of the canoe. Suddenly, Little Elk noticed that the canoe had been drifting and he spoke to his friend about it. “We should start for home, Little Elk,” Quarter Moon said. “The sun is climbing high in the heavens. We have many fine fish, and our mothers will be proud.” As they picked up their paddles once again, Little Elk looked around to make sure that they were headed in the right direction. They had been so busy with their fishing that they had drifted far from where they had started. Little Elk wasn’t quite sure which direction they should take to go homeward, for the two boys had never been off by themselves fishing and for a moment he was confused. Then, looking at the sun, he decided that they had turned completely around and would have to turn their canoe once again to be headed in the right direction. And after he told Quarter Moon, the two boys turned the canoe around and began to paddle in the direction they were sure was right. They paddled past several islands and toward the main shore, when Quarter Moon cried out, “Little Elk, our canoe has sprung a leak.” Little Elk looked down at his moccasins. The water was beginning to rise in the canoe. Then Little Elk knew why this old canoe had been left at the shore of the lake. The bottom was not considered safe. So the canoe had been left to be repaired and used later on. “Quarter Moon, we are not too far from the shore. Paddle harder and we will be able to reach the shore before the canoe fills so full that we cannot move it.”