They drew many long strands from the fiber of their clothing--cloth in those days was often made as strong as leather--and twisted and knotted them together until they had a line fifteen feet long.

It took them at least two hours to complete this task, and then they contemplated their work with pride.

But the look of joy on Paul's face did not last long.
"How on earth are we to get a hook, Henry ?" he asked.
"I'll furnish that," replied Henry, and he took the small steel buckle with which his trousers were fastened together at the back.

Breaking this apart he bent the slenderest portion of it into the shape of a hook, and fastened it to the end of his line.
"If we get a fish on this he may slip off or he may not, but we must try," he said.
The fishing rod and the bait were easy matters.

A slender stem of dogwood, cut with a clasp knife, served for the first, and, to get the latter, they had nothing to do but turn up a flat stone, and draw angle worms from the moist earth beneath.
The hook was baited and with a triumphant flourish Henry swung it toward the stream.
"Now," he said, "for the biggest fish that ever swam in this creek." The boys might have caught nothing with such a rude outfit, but doubtless that stream was never fished in before, and its inhabitants, besides being full of a natural curiosity, did not dream of any danger coming from the outer air.