ubtfully. He, too, fancied that Mr. Stanton
was laughing inwardly, but he was not good at repartee and the lawyer
was too much for him. It was Roy who took the situation in hand.

"It seems ungrateful, Mr. Stanton, even to talk about whether we'll take
such a peach of a gift. Tom here is always thinking about the law--our
law--and Pee-wee--we call this kid Pee-wee--he's our specialist on doing
good turns. They're both cranks in different ways. I know there's a
difference, as you say, between just a present and a reward. And it
seems silly to say thank you for such a present, just as if it was a
penknife or something like that. But we do thank you and we'll take the
boat. I just happened to think of a good name for it while you were
talking. It was the good turn Pee-wee did yesterday--about the bird, I
mean--that made you offer it to us and your giving it to us is a good
turn besides, so I guess we'll call it the 'Good Turn.'"

"You might call it the 'Teckinality,'" suggested Mr. Stanton with a
glance at Pee-wee.

"All right," he added, "I'll send one of my men down later in the day
to see about getting her in the water. I've an idea a block and falls
will do the trick. But you'd better caulk her up with lampwick and give
her a coat of paint in the meantime."

He went to the door with them and as they turned at the foot of the
stairs and called back another "Thank you," Roy noticed something in his
face which had not been there before.

"I bet he's thinking of his son," said he.

"Wonder how he died," said Tom.

CHAPTER VIII

BON VOYAGE!

"Now, you see," said Pee-wee, "how a good turn can evolute."

"Can what?" said Tom.

"Evolute."

"It could neverlute with me," observed Roy. "Gee, but we've fallen in
soft! You could have knocked me down with a toothpick. I wonder what our
sleuth friend, the sheriff, will say."

The sheriff said very little; he was too astonished to say much. So were
most of the people of the town. When they heard that "Old Man Stanton"
had given Harry Stanton's boat to some strange boys from out of town,
they said that the loss of his son must have affected his mind. The boys
of the neighborhood, incredulous, went out on the marsh the next day
when the rain held up, and stood about watching the three strangers at
work and marvelling at "Old Man Stanton's" extraordinary generosity.

"Aw, he handed 'em a lemon!" commented the wiseacre. "That boat'll never
run--it won't even floa