house.

Ned looked forward to the trip with the keen delight of one who had
already tasted the joys of canoeing. Clay and Randy--who had not been
permitted to accompany Ned down the Susquehanna the previous summer--had
bright anticipations to be realized, while Nugget was just as eager as
his companions. It had required much persuasion and many promises on
Nugget's part to win the desired permission, and when the question was
finally decided the new member of the Jolly Rovers was put on a severe
course of training.

This embraced rowing, paddling a canoe, and swimming, and before the
month of June was over Nugget was fairly proficient in all three. He
purchased a second hand canoe which Ned picked out for him, and without
the knowledge of his companions he wrote to his father in New York for a
canoeing outfit.

The box duly arrived and was opened one evening in the boathouse. The
boys feasted their eyes on the array of treasures--fishing rods of
spliced bamboo, a portable set of camp dishes that fitted into each
other, a pair of brass lanterns, rubber blankets, and several other
articles that were of no practical use on a canoe trip.

In the bottom of the box were four shirts of the softest flannel, two
pairs of long black woolen stockings, and a canoeing suit of stout brown
cloth--knickerbockers, blouse, and a yachting cap.

It was a fine outfit, and the boys good naturedly envied Nugget his
luck.

The date of departure was fixed for the first week in July. When the
academy closed on the 25th of June little or nothing remained to be done
in the way of preparation--thanks to Ned's good generalship.

The four canoes lay in the lower section of the boathouse, radiant in
new coats of paint. In the big closet on the upper floor were packed the
varied assortment of dishware, lanterns, axes, bottles of oil, cement,
cans of white lead, strips of oiled canvas, rolls of blankets, a new A
tent, jointed poles for the same, and a bundle of iron stakes.

Such provision as could be taken along--oatmeal, rice, sugar, coffee and
flour--had been ordered from a grocer, to be packed in waterproof jars.

Ned Chapman had been very properly chosen commodore of the club, and a
couple of days before the start Randy's sister Mary presented the Jolly
Rovers with a pennant of crimson and gold satin. The proper place for
it was at the bow of the commodore's canoe, so it was yielded to Ned.

With the exception of Randy's single barreled