It was somewhat cooler up the creek than out on the main body of water , for the tall birches and willows , crowding down to the brim , threw cool , green shadows across it and shut out the scorching glare , while a stray breeze now and then rippled down the wooded slopes , rustling the beech leaves with an airy , pleasant sound . Out in the pond the glassy water creamed and shimmered in the hot sun , unrippled by the faintest breath of air . Across the soft , pearly tints of the horizon blurred the smoke of the big factory chimneys that were owned by Mr. Walters , to whom the pond and adjacent property also belonged . Mr. Walters was a comparative stranger in Carleton , having but recently purchased the factories from the heirs of the previous owner ; but he had been in charge long enough to establish a reputation for sternness and inflexibility in all his business dealings . One or two of his employees , who had been discharged by him on what they deemed insufficient grounds , helped to deepen the impression that he was an unjust and arbitrary man , merciless to all offenders , and intolerant of the slightest infringement of his cast-iron rules . Dan Phillips had been on the pond ever since sunrise . The trout had risen well in the early morning , but as the day wore on , growing hotter and hotter , they refused to bite , and for half an hour Dan had not caught one . He had a goodly string of them already , however , and he surveyed them with satisfaction as he rowed his leaky little skiff to the shore of the creek . `` Pretty good catch , '' he soliloquized . `` Best I 've had this summer , so far . That big spotted one must weigh near a pound . He 's a beauty . They 're a good price over at the hotels now , too . I 'll go home and get my dinner and go straight over with them . That 'll leave me time for another try at them about sunset . Whew , how hot it is ! I must take Ella May home a bunch of them blue flags . They 're real handsome ! '' He tied his skiff under the crowding alders , gathered a big bunch of the purple flag lilies with their silky petals , and started homeward , whistling cheerily as he stepped briskly along the fern-carpeted wood path that wound up the hill under the beeches and firs . He was a freckled , sunburned lad of thirteen years .
His neighbours all said that Danny was `` as smart as a steel trap , '' and immediately added that they wondered where he got his smartness from -- certainly not XXXXX his father !
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