“Well, when you learn to swim you’ll like that,” replied his father.  “But now let’s see if we can catch some fish.  I told mother I’d try to bring some home, and I guess Muffin is hungry for fish, too.  So we’ll bait our hooks and see what luck we have.”

Mr. Bunker stopped rowing the boat and got his own fishing-rod and line ready.  Russ could fix his own, but Laddie needed a little help.  Soon the three, sitting in the boat, were waiting for “bites.”

All at once there was a little shake and nibble on Laddie’s line.  He grew excited and was going to pull up, but his father whispered to him: 

“Wait just a moment.  The fish hasn’t taken hold of the hook yet.  He is just tasting the bait.  If you pull up now you’ll scare him away.  Wait a little longer.”

So Laddie waited, and then, as he felt a sudden tug on his line, he quickly lifted the pole from the water.  Up in the air went the dripping line, and on the end of it was a fine fish.

“Laddie has caught the first one,” said Mr. Bunker.  “Now we’ll have to see what we can do, Russ.”

“I think I have one now,” said Russ in a low voice.

Mr. Bunker looked at his son’s pole.  The end of it was shaking and bobbing a little, and the line was trembling.

“Yes, you have a bite,” said Mr. Bunker.  “Pull up, Russ!  Pull!”

Russ pulled, as Laddie had done, and he, too, had caught a fine fish.

“Well, well!” exclaimed Mr. Bunker, as he took this second one off the hook.  “You boys are beating me all to pieces.  I’ll have to watch out what I’m doing!”

“Why don’t you pull up your line.  Daddy, and see what you’ve got on your hook?” asked Laddie.

“I believe I will,” his father answered.  “Here we go!  Let’s see what I have!”

Up came his line, and the pole bent like a bow, because something heavy was on the hook.

“Oh, daddy’s got a big one!  Daddy’s got a terrible one!” cried Laddie.

“It’s bigger than both our fishes put together,” added Russ.

“I certainly have got something,” said Mr. Bunker, as he kept on lifting his pole up.  “But it doesn’t act like a fish.  It doesn’t swim around and try to get off.”

Something long and black was lifted out of the water.  At first the two little boys thought it was a very big fish, but when Mr. Bunker saw it he laughed and cried: 

“Well, look at my luck!  It’s only an old rubber boot!”

And so it was.  His hook had caught on a rubber boot at the bottom of the lake and he had pulled that up, thinking it was a fish.

“Never mind, Daddy,” said Russ kindly.  “You can have half of my fish.”

“And half of mine, too,” added Laddie.

“Thank you,” said their father.  “That is very nice of you.  But I must try to catch one myself.”

And he did, a little later, though it was not as big as the one Russ has caught.

But after that Mr. Bunker caught a very large one, and Russ and Laddie each got one more, so they had enough for a good meal, as well as some to give to Muffin.