“I’ll say they were!” assented John. “My! what times!”
“And what a country!” added Jesse, looking up from his map.
“Yes, son; and what a country!” His uncle spoke seriously.
“But now, fellows,” he added, “about that little pasear of ours—that slide of a couple of thousand miles this summer, up the little old Missouri to the Rockies and down the river again—thing we were talking of—what do you say?”
“Oh, but we can’t!” said Jesse.
“Oh, but I’ll bet we can!” said John, who caught a twinkle in Uncle Dick’s eye.
“Yes, and we will!” said Rob, also noting his smile.
“Yes,” said Uncle Dick. “I’ve just come from talking with the acting commanding officer. She says that on the whole she gives consent, provided I don’t keep you out of school.”
“It took Lewis and Clark two years,” demurred John. “But they were out of school—even though poor Will Clark hadn’t learned much about spelling. They didn’t have to get back by the first week in September.”