Both the boys turned red, and looked silly. They were twins evidently,—exactly the same size, and almost precisely alike in the face. Each of them had bright red hair, a great many freckles, and a snub nose.
"Are you one of the fellows that was on this boat?" asked one of them.
"Yes," said I. And I told them my name. "That's my shirt you've got on, by the way."
"T-t-tell him about it, S-S-Spike," said the one at the wheel.
"Tell him yourself!" growled the other.
"W-Well," said the steersman, giving the wheel a twist, "you s- see… you s-see… oh! I can't t-tell him,—it makes me s- stutter so d-darned much!"
"Go ahead!" returned Spike.
"Well," he began again, "you s-see, we were all going to B-Big D- Duck for a month, an' F-Father said—oh! our name is K-K-Kidd, you know,—the K-Kidd kids,—th-there! everybody has to spring that old chestnut about us, because they think it's f-funny. It's so old it's m-m-mouldy, but we might as well s-say it and g-g-get it over with! W-Well, we were all going to Big D-D-Duck, s-s-same's we do every s-summer. B-But F-Father got awful cranky 'cause we f- fell behind at s-school last year, and he m-mapped out a p-p- programme of entertainments f-for us this s-summer that didn't strike us as—as—as exactly oh! as exactly b-b-bully, you know… In f-fact, it was b-b-bum! S-Studying about all s-summer… S-Say, w-won't you f-freeze?"
I thought I might do so, myself, so I took off my wet clothes, and spread them out in the sun. Then I went below, found my bag, brought it up on deck, and began to dress again. He went on, in the meantime, with his story.
"Well, F-Father didn't c-c-confess his f-foul p-plot till the very d-day we were going to Big D-Duck. That was—it was—oh, when was it, S-S-Spike?"