“Oh, I had you in mind all the while, Chunky,” laughed the tall lad. “There’s a restaurant, or corner grocery, about every five miles, and that ought to be close enough for you.”
“Huh! Don’t get fresh!” retorted Bob, who resented too pointed references to his eating propensity.
“No, but speaking seriously,” put in Ned, “the professor ought to be on hand if he is going with us. And I suppose he will want to go,” he added. “He hasn’t missed a trip since we went to Mexico. Say, there were some doings then!” he exclaimed with a sigh of regret.
“Oh, we may have just as much fun and excitement now,” commented Jerry. “We’ve got a long trip mapped out. And, if the professor doesn’t want to come with us, I suppose we’ll have to go without him. Though it’s more fun when he’s along.”
The boys had, as Jerry intimated, planned a trip for their summer vacation. It was to be made partly in their big auto, and partly by motor boat, and several hundred miles would be covered. They intended to tour the upper part of New York State, and end with a long voyage on Lake Champlain, whither their motor boat would be sent. But the unexpected delay caused by Professor Snodgrass remaining at Bellport had rather hampered them.
“What’s the matter with taking a trip over there and seeing what’s keeping him?” suggested Ned, after a pause. “He’ll be glad to see us, and, if he hasn’t caught that two-tailed lizard yet, he may be glad to change his base of operations. Let’s take a run over in the car. It isn’t far.”
“Go ahead!” agreed Jerry. “I’m with you.”
“Same here,” half-grunted Bob, for he was chewing gum, probably as a substitute for eating.
“Well, as long as we’ve made up our minds to hunt up the professor,” said Jerry, “we might as well make a full day of it, and go out to the swamp. I want to look around there.”
“What’s the good?” asked Ned. “Your mother has sold the land; hasn’t she?”