gaze.

"The world destroyer must be underneath this ton of rubbish,"
grunted Darry, kneeling and prying the strings of paper out.

At last he delved down to a parcel wrapped in stout manila paper
and securely tied with cord.

"Cut the strings," advised Reade, passing Dave a pocket knife
with one blade open.

Darrin, however, had lifted the parcel out to lay it on the ground.
It was fairly heavy, but Dave handled it with ease. Now he
cut the strings. As the papers were pushed aside he and the others
saw nothing at first but a lot of khaki-colored canvas.

"Fellows," declared Dick, "I don't believe this is a practical
joke, at all. It looks to me as though someone had sent us something
very much like a cook tent."

All thought of danger having now passed, Prescott and his comrades
unfolded the canvas. At the bottom of the package they found
something that caused them to send up a wild hurrah.

Two daintily modeled white maple paddles lay there. There were
two other objects made of wood that looked like seats.

"Fellows," gasped Dick, "don't you understand what this is?"

"I do," nodded Tom huskily. "I do, if not another soul in the
world does. Fellows, it's a collapsible canoe, all ready to set
up and run into the water. It's our boat, that we've been wanting
so badly. It's a beauty! Oh, shake it out! Lay it and let's
put the braces in! I shan't be able to breathe again until I
see this thing of beauty floating on the water!"

Yet Tom was no more excited than were the other members of Dick
& Co. All took a hand, and all tried to work so nimbly that they
got considerably in the way of one another. Yet at last the canoe
was ready to be picked up and carried to the lake's edge.

"Here's even a painter to tie it to a tree with," shouted Dave.
"Say! Whoever bought this canoe knew all about one!"

"Don't anyone try to get into the craft yet," ordered Dick, as
the canoe was slid out upon the water, Prescott holding the painter,
which he tied around a sapling growing near the water's edge.
"We want to make sure that this canoe is waterproof. If it stands
twenty minutes without taking in water we'll know it's all right."

Since they couldn't board the canoe, these delighted boys joined
hands, dancing about in a ring. Then, suddenly, they started
off in burlesqued figures of an Indian war-dance, whooping like
mad.

While the excitement was at its height, Reade suddenly seized
Hazelton by his col