The Indian, however,
walked on without appearing to notice either the rifled cache or
the suspicious glances of the boy. Arrived at the river, the
Indian, after carefully testing the ice, walked to a small island
near the shore.
The boys looked on while he began his preparations for fishing. He
went about the work quietly, yet seemed to be remarkably exact in
all his motions. First he cut about twenty feet of fish-line in
two in the middle of the piece and tied one end of each part to one
end of a stick which he cut from the shore.
The knots he made in the fastening seemed primitive, but it was
discovered later that they held very firmly. After a time he tied
a bass hook to each fish-line, and on each hook he speared a little
cube of fat pork which he drew from his pocket, and which had
evidently done service through a long series of fishing expeditions.
Next he cut two holes in the ice, which was not very thick at that
point, and over these the boys were invited to stand, sticks in
hand, lines dangling from the poles.
Hardly had Sandy lowered his line which had a bullet flattened
around it for a sinker, when he felt it jerk to one side, and
almost immediately drew up a three-pound trout.
"Now, what do you think of that for catching fish?" demanded the
boy.
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