I only wish that on my voyage down the River of Life I could have such a sure eye and hand to guide me through the dangerous reefs and rapids." "You are poetical," said Betty, who laughed, and at the same time blushed slightly.

"But you are right about the guide.

Jonathan says 'always get a good guide,' and as guiding is his work he ought to know.

But this has nothing in common with fishing, and here is my favorite place under the old sycamore." With a long sweep of the paddle she ran the canoe alongside a stone beneath a great tree which spread its long branches over the creek and shaded the pool.

It was a grand old tree and must have guarded that sylvan spot for centuries.