"Yes, you are, and we want you to keep off."
"Go on in toward the west shore and you will be all right," said the man. He was a burly looking individual, with an unusually long nose.
By this time the lumber raft was sweeping closer. The raft and the houseboat were moving in the same direction, and this kept them for the time being apart.
"If you don't keep off, there will be trouble," cried Sam.
"Oh, you boys dry up!" was the reply from the man with the long nose, and now they recognized him as a fellow they had met in a hotel at their last stopping place. The man had had a row with a porter, and had made himself generally disagreeable.
The houseboat was under the immediate command of Captain Starr. The captain, a rather strange individual, was not feeling very well, and had gone off to take a nap. Now it was thought best by all to call him.
"The overgrown wood-choppers!" growled the captain as soon as he had come out on deck and taken in the situation. "Sheer off!" he yelled. "Do you hear?"
"Turn in toward shore," was the answering cry.
"We can't—it's too shallow."
"Is it really too shallow?" asked Dick.