Thanks for the replies! Yes, I've seen those knots and tried them.

I did manage to rediscover what that little snot nosed boy scout did.....he did in fact tie a simple Canadian jam knot on one end and then used a timber hitch on the other end using the slack.

Thank you very much for helping me! Good people here and I am remiss in not participating here more.

Wishing you all the best!
Mike