at first under the edges of the zinc, but in a
short time the wood swelled, and the leak entirely ceased.

The boat was loaded, and the boys were ready to start soon after six
o'clock. There was no wind, but the two long oars, pulled one by Tom and
the other by Jim, sent her along at a fine rate. They rowed until ten
o'clock, resting occasionally for a few moments, and then, as there were
no signs of a breeze, and as it was growing excessively hot, they went
ashore, to wait until afternoon before resuming their journey.

[Illustration: JIM AND JOE PLAY MUMBLE-TO-PEG.]

The sun became hotter and hotter. The boys tried to fish, but there was
no shade near the bank of the river, and it was too hot to stand or sit
in the sunshine and wait for fish to bite. They went in swimming, but
the sun, beating on their heads, seemed hotter while they were in the
water than it did when they were on the land. Jim and Joe tried a game
of mumble-to-peg, but they gave it up long before they had reached
"cars." It was probably the hottest day of the year; and as it was
clearly impossible to row or to do anything else while the heat lasted,
the boys brought their blankets from the boat, and going to a grove not
far from the shore, lay down and fell asleep.

They were astonished to find, when they awoke, that it was two o'clock.
None of them had been accustomed to sleep in the daytime, and they could
not understand how it came about that they had all slept for fully two
hours. They had yet to learn that one of the results of "camping out,"
or living in the open air, is an ability to sleep at almost any time.
All animals and wild creatures, whether they are beasts or savages, have
this happy faculty of sleeping in the daytime. It is one of the habits
of our savage ancestors that comes back to us when we abandon
civilization, and live as Aryan tribes, from whom we are descended,
lived in the far East, before they marched with their wives and children
and cattle from India, and made themselves new homes in Europe.

After lunch the boys prepared to start, although there was still no
wind; but when they went down to the boat they found that the sun was as
hot as ever. So they returned to the shade of the grove, and made up
their minds to stay there until the end of the afternoon.

"Harry," said Tom, "we've been on the river three days, and we are only
a little way above Hudson. How much longer will it be before we get to
Albany?"

"We ough