e didn't wish to get
the blissed things wet too suddent like."

"Say, just change the subject, won't you?" begged Nick, turning as red
in the face as a turkey cock. "My time will come, and I'm going to
astonish you fellows. Why, I can float right now, though perhaps you
won't believe it."

"On the contrary, I never believed you could sink," declared George,
derisively, as he surveyed the swelling proportions of his boat mate.
"Talk about needing artificial support to keep you on top; I bet you'd
float like a cork, or a lump of grease, if you only wasn't afraid to
make the try."

"What are we waiting for now?" asked Nick, appealing to Jack, because
that comrade never nagged him.

"Only to find out if the other fellows are going along," was Jack's
reply.

"Well, we've just got to know pretty quick," grumbled Nick. "I've been
kept waiting so long I'm wasting away to a mere shadow. If it holds up
much more, why I'll not have the appetite of a poor little dicky bird."

Of course there was a shout at that, for truth to tell Nick seemed
never to get enough to eat. He couldn't cook worth while, and yet was
always first and last at the feast. On the other hand, there was the
long-bodied and lanky Josh Purdue who was a splendid hand at getting up
a camp dinner, yet seldom cared to partake of his tasty dishes, and was
also, they whispered, addicted to dyspepsia tablets!

Between these two there was an almost constant warfare of humorous
badinage in connection with their several weaknesses. Josh would twit
the fat boy on his enormous capacity for stowing "grub" away; and on
the other hand, Nick generally came back with sarcastic remarks about
"shadows," and "living skeletons," and such unpleasant things.

"I've got a pretty good hunch that the thing will be all settled before
another day," remarked Jack, nodding. "And if so, we can get away on
next Monday morning."

"Hurrah!" shouted Nick, waving his arms above his head. "Just imagine
what a bully good time we've got ahead of us, cruising down that creek
yonder," and he pointed to where they could see the waters of the
Mississippi flowing past the boathouse.

"I've already made most of the arrangements," announced Jack, "and only
want to know whether there are going to be six of us, or only four,
before ordering the provisions for the start."

"Oh, how happy I am!" gurgled Nick, trying to dance in the confined
space alongside the motor boats, and almost falli