Captain Savage said, "Yer see it don't cost me nuthin' fur a blow-out,
as you might say. Now, if this here old craft was an automobile, how
much would I have to pay for tires with a blow-out every minute, huh?"
Then he'd look awful funny like, at Pee-wee.

You can bet Captain Savage was nice to us fellows and we all liked him.
He had to stop at Peekskill and he took us all ashore for a peek--
that's what he said. And he treated us all to sodas. You get dandy
raspberry sodas in Peekskill.

After that we started for Poughkeepsie and that was as far as he was
going to tow us, because he had to tow a barge down to New York. But,
any way, we should worry, there isn't any tide above Poughkeepsie and
any dinky little kicker could tow us up to Catskill Landing from there.
"Believe me," I said, "if there are any ways around here, we'll find
them." Finding ways to do things is our middle name.

We had Captain Savage on the house-boat to lunch with us and Mr.
Ellsworth made a speech and said we were all much obliged to him and,
oh, boy, when that tug started down the river again, didn't we stand on
the cabin roof of the house-boat and cheer Captain Savage. He had about
six blow-outs before he got very far--just answering our cheers.

Oh, cracky, but he was one fine man.

CHAPTER IX

TELLS ABOUT SKINNY'S SWIMMING LESSON

I don't know what to call this chapter. Maybe it will come without
calling, hey? Anyway, I should worry. Maybe I'll think of a name when
I'm finished with it. It will be mostly about Skinny.

There isn't much more to tell about our trip to Catskill Landing, but
you just wait, and there'll be a lot to tell you about our cruise down
again. Don't be in a hurry--just you wait. More haste, less speed. But
take it from me, you don't get much speed out of a house-boat. A
house-boat belongs to the merry-go-round family, that's what Mr. Ellsworth
says.

That night we kept the boat tied up to the dock in Poughkeepsie and
took a hike around the town, while Mr. Ellsworth tried to find somebody
who would tow us up to Catskill Landing. When we got back, he said he
had been talking with a man who had a little steam yacht and would tow
us as far as Catskill Landing. He said it wouldn't cost anything,
because anyway he was going up through Lake Champlain and Lake George
and he was strong for the Boy Scouts. You hear lots of men say that.
But, one thing, he wasn't going for two days and so we'd have to stay
tied up i