midday
`` Give 's that there oar . '' `` No , no , let me go on pulling , '' said Dexter good-humouredly , for his fit of anger had passed off . `` I 'm not used to it like you are , but I shall soon learn . '' He tried to emulate Bob 's regular rowing , and by degrees managed to help the boat along till toward midday , when , seeing an attractive bend where the river ran deep and dark round by some willows , Bob softly rowed the boat close up to the bank , moored her to the side , and then began to fit together his tackle , a long willow wand being cut and trimmed to do duty for a rod . This done , a very necessary preliminary had to be attended to , namely , the finding of bait . Bob was provided with a little canvas bag , into which he thrust a few green leaves and some scraps of moss , before leaping ashore , and proceeding to kick off patches of the bank in search of worms . Dexter watched him attentively , and then his eyes fell upon a good-sized , greenish-hued caterpillar which had dropped from a willow branch into the boat .