“Where are we?” asked Frank.
“On the Still river, just above Dunkirk,” replied the captain.
“How far is that from Darewell?” inquired Bart.
“Are you from Darewell?” asked Captain Needham quickly, and he looked sharply at the boys who stood in a circle of light cast by several lanterns.
“Yes. That’s where we live,” replied Bart.
“Well, you’re about fifty miles from home.”
“Which way are you going?” asked Frank, as the barge was anchored then, and the boys had not had time to notice in which direction she was headed.
“We’re going up the river.”
“Then I guess we’d better go ashore,” remarked Ned. “We don’t want to get any further away from home. We must send word to our folks that we’re safe.”
“Of course,” spoke the captain. “It’s going to be a little difficult though. There’s no telephone in Dunkirk, and you’ll have to tramp five miles to send a message. You’d better stay aboard until we get to Flanders, that’s the next town above. We’ll be there by morning, and you can wire from there.”