way. It would be a pity for the whole scheme to fall through for lack of brains. I suppose the others would never agree?" "The girls might," said Lee, "but Arthur never. He would rise up like a lion. You know, deep down in his heart he's a frightful stickler for the proprieties." "We shall get ourselves into trouble." [Pg 19] [Pg 19] "It will not be the first or the last time. And besides, we can escape to the woods if necessary, like Bessie Belle and Mary Grey." "Who were they?" "'They were two bonnie lassies. They built a house on yon burn brae And thecht it o'er wi' rashes.'" "'They were two bonnie lassies. They built a house on yon burn brae And thecht it o'er wi' rashes.'" [Pg 20] [Pg 20] III If we except Arthur, whose knowledge of the Adirondack woods and waters was that of a naturalist, Lee and Gay were the sportsmen of the family. They had begun to learn the arts of fishing and hunting from excellent masters at the tender age of five. They knew the deeps and shallows of every lake and brook within many miles as intimately as a good housewife knows the shelves in her linen closet. They talked in terms of blazes, snags, spring holes, and runways. Each owned a guide boat, incomparably light, which she could swing to her shoulders and carry for a quarter of a mile without blowing. If Lee was the better shot, Gay could throw the more seductive fly. There had been a guide in the girls' extreme youth, a Frenchman, Pierre Amadis de Troissac, who had perhaps begun life as a gentleman. Whatever his history, he had taught the precious pair the rudiments of French and the higher mysteries of fishing. [Pg 21] [Pg 21] He had made a special study of
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