“She’s dry, all right, by now, I think,” said he. “If we put a name on the stern board the paint could dry without being touched. What shall we christen her?”
“Call her ‘Liberty,’” suggested Jesse, “or, say, ‘America.’”
“Fine, but too usual. Give us a name, John.”
“Well, I say, ‘Columbia,’ because we are headed for the Columbia, the same as Lewis and Clark.”
“Too matter-of-fact! Give us a jollier name.”
“Well, give us one yourself, Rob,” said Uncle Dick, “since you’re so particular.”
“All right! How’d ‘Adventurer, of St. Louis,’ do?”
“Not so bad—not so bad. But to Lewis and Clark, St. Louis was only one point of their journey, important as it was.”
“I’ll tell you,” broke in Jesse, the youngest. “Call her ‘Adventurer, of America.’ You can paint it all on, if you use small letters for part, like the steamboats.”