Frank and Jimmy were standing in the archway of the Royal Hotel the next morning wondering where Dick was. It was raining heavily, and they had had to put off starting to Hingham. Presently Dick was seen running up the Walk with his coat collar turned up, evidently pretty well drenched. Under his arm however he had a very nice-looking umbrella.
"Oh, Dick," said Frank as he joined them, "whatever have you been buying an umbrella for, and why, having bought one, do you not put it up when it rains?"
"I believe every person I passed all the way from the top of St. Giles's Street would have liked to ask me that question. They plainly thought that I was a fool," Dick answered rather crossly.
"Well, no wonder. Why didn't you put it up?"
"It is not an umbrella at all, but a butterfly-net;" and he unfolded the supposed umbrella and opened it out into a good-sized butterfly-net.
"I did not much like to be seen carrying a great butterfly-net through the town, so I thought this a good dodge to save appearances, and lo and behold it serves me this trick the first time I carry it."
"Well, it could not help the rain, Dick," said Frank laughing.
These umbrella-nets are capital things, although they are useless in a shower. The reader may easily make one for himself in this way: Get an old umbrella-stick and place the catch which holds the umbrella open, lower down, so as to increase the diameter of your net; then get two slips of strong crinoline steel, make the ends red hot, and bend them with a pliers into little loops. Then fasten one end of each to the top of the stick with a piece of wire, and the other ends to the sliding ferrule. When this ferrule is pushed up to the catch the steels form a circle, to which the net can be attached. Slip the ferrule back, and the net can be rolled up round the stick just like an ordinary umbrella, and a case put over it. A very handy and useful net is thus formed, and one which is very portable. If you do not care to make it, it may be bought from a dealer for a small sum, but I should advise every boy to make himself all the things he can. He will thus not only save his money to buy those things which he cannot make, but he will (which is far more important) learn how to turn his hand to useful purposes, and encourage habits of self-reliance which will be very useful to him in after life. In addition to this, one gets far more pleasure from using a thing one has made oneself, than one which has been bought.
About twelve o'clock the rain cleared away and they decided to start. So the horses were harnessed in a dog-cart belonging to the inn, which also supplied them with the tandem harness, and the turn-out, which looked very creditable, was brought to the front of the inn, and the boys took their seats. Frank and Dick sat in front, and Jimmy and the groom behind. Frank felt nervous as he took hold of the reins, but pretended to feel quite at his ease. To his astonishment their steeds started off very quietly; and as the streets were very clear of traffic, they got out of the town without any accident. As soon, however, as they got into the open roads the leader evinced a strong desire to look about him, and presently his movements grew so erratic that Dick said he was sure he would turn round and look at them before long. Frank resented this imputation on his skill in driving by giving the leader a cut with the whip, whereupon he attempted to bolt, and it was as much as Frank could do to hold him in. Then sometimes he would hang back, so that the traces were loose, and the wheeler did all the pulling; and then he would start forward and nearly break the traces. After this sort of thing had gone on for some two or three miles, the wheeler, which had been going very steadily, began to imitate the bad example of his leader; and Frank and his companions began to wish they had let tandem-driving alone.
They came to a turnpike gate and, on Frank attempting to pull in the horses in order to pay the toll, he found that they were beyond his control, and after cannoning rather severely against the gate-post, they fairly bolted, and tore away at a great pace along the road, which was fortunately pretty straight and free from vehicles.