"
"I not do it. I tatch a fiss myself."
They gave him a pole and a line without any hook on it so he could not
scratch himself, and then Jan and Ted sat down under a shady tree, not
far from camp, to try to catch some fish.
They knew how. for their father had taught them, and soon Jan had
landed a good-sized sunfish. A little later Ted caught a perch which
had stripes on its sides, "like a zebra," as Jan said. After that Jan
and Ted each caught two fish, and they soon had enough to cook.
"What do you Curlytops want me to do with these?" asked Nora, as the
two children came along, laughing and shouting, with the fish dangling
from strings each of them carried.
"Cook 'em, of course!" cried Teddy. "That's what we caught them for,
Nora--to have you cook them."
"But won't they bite me?" asked the cook, pretending to be afraid.
"Oh, no! They can't!" explained Jan.
"They bit on our hooks, and now they can't bite any more, but we can
bite them," said Teddy.
"Oh, would you bite the poor fish?" asked Nora.
For a moment the Curlytops did not know what to answer. Then Teddy
replied:
"Oh, well, it can't hurt 'em to bite 'em after they're cooked, can
it?"
"No, I guess not," laughed Nora, "no more than it can hurt a baked
potato. Well, run along and I'll get the fish ready for dinner, or
whatever you call the next meal.
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