Not far from the tree where they landed the boys found a suitable spot for their camp.  A fire was soon blazing merrily over which the fish cooked with an appetizing odor.

“The boys laughed when I brought this pan along,” remarked Arnold.  “They evidently didn’t believe I would have need for it.”

“They’ll like that fine big fish we take home, I’ll wager.”

“After dinner, let’s gather some of that Spanish Moss and take it to the Fortuna.  I wonder if it wouldn’t make good mattresses.”

“They say the negroes and some of the whites down here do just that.  They bury it in the ground a while then pack it into a mattress and have a fine bed.  It must be buried in the earth for a time, though, they say.  It is funny looking stuff isn’t it?”

“It surely is.  But what is that green plant up there?  It looks as if the oak tree were all dead except that one sprig of green.  Strange that it should keep only one twig alive.”

“I believe that’s mistletoe growing on a limb of the oak.”

“I guess you’re right.  And down there at the foot of the tree I see a quail.  He’s humped over and seems to be trying to make himself smaller all the time.”

“Hush, man,” Harry protested.  “Quails don’t grow down South as far as this!  They’re a Northern bird.”

“Then maybe I don’t know what a quail is,” retorted Arnold.

“I don’t mean that,” replied Harry, “but it seems strange to think of quail being here.  I always had an idea that quail humped themselves under the shelter of a corn shock with snow blowing around their toes and nearly freezing them to death.”

“Maybe you’re right.  They tell me the natives call these birds partridges.  Just the same, I’ll venture to say that I can call them out of cover.  Want to see me try it?”

“Sure.  Go as far as you like.  We won’t shoot them, though.”

“Certainly not.  We have all we need for food except maybe a rabbit.  Watch me toll them on.”

Both boys were very quiet for a few minutes, then Arnold sent out a plaintive “Bob White” call.  In a few minutes he repeated the cry.  This time an answer came and directly both boys were delighted to observe the little bright eyed bird that had responded stepping out from the shelter of a clump of grass.

“Too bad to disappoint him,” declared Arnold, “but it is getting on towards the shank of the afternoon, so let’s take a walk around and then get back to the town.  The Fortuna is probably on the railway by now.  I wish the others could have been with us this glorious afternoon.  It has been fine so far.”

Leaving the river the boys walked slowly along scanning closely the vegetation on all sides and keeping an alert eye open for the feathered and furry denizens of the forest.

A rabbit scurried across their path and hastened with great leaps down the path.  The boys laughed to see the patch of white tail go bounding down the old trail along which they were walking.