"Well, then," Prescott resumed, "we meet at the same old grocery
store in the morning. There we stock up with food."

"Are we going to hire a horse and wagon for transporting our tent,
cots, bedding and food?" Dan asked.

"No," Dick replied. "I've been thinking that over, and the funds
won't stand it. So I've rented a push cart for two dollars.
We can keep it as long as we need it. The tent, folding cots,
blankets, pillows and kitchen utensils will go on the cart."

"Do we have to push that cart?" demanded Danny Grin, looking displeased.

"We do, if we want the cart to go along with us," Dick admitted.

Danny Grin groaned dismally as he remarked:

"That one detail of the arrangements just about spoils all the
pleasure of the trip, then."

"No, it won't," Dick reported promptly. "I've looked into that.
The wheels are well greased---the axles, I mean. I've loaded
the cart with more weight than we shall put on it, and it pushes
along very easily. If we come to a bad stretch of road, then
two fellows can manage the cart at a time. The scheme saves us
a lot of expense, fellows."

"Will all the food go on the cart, tool" asked Dave.

"Each one of us can carry some of the food," Dick replied.

Then his eye, roving from face to face, took in the fact that
his chums were not impressed with the proposed method of
transportation.

"Cheer up, fellows," he begged. "You'll find that it will be
pretty easy, after all."

"I'd rather believe you, Dick, than have it proved to me," was
Tom Reade's dejected answer. "I thought we were going away for
pleasure and rest, but I suppose we can work our way if we have to."

None of these high school boys are strangers to our readers.
Everyone remembers the first really public appearance of Dick
& Co., as set forth in the first volume of the "_Grammar School
Boys Series_." Then we met them again in the first volume of
the "_High School Boys Series_," entitled, "_The High School Freshmen_."
That stormy first year of high school life was one that Dick
& Co. could never forget. In the second volume, "_The High School
Pitcher_," we found Dick & Co. actively engaged in athletics,
though in their sophomore year they did not attempt to make the
eleven, but waited until the spring to try for the baseball nine.
In the third volume, "_The High School Left End_," Dick & Co.
were shown in their struggles to make the eleven, against some
clever candidates, and also in the face