"I hope," said Frank, "that Charley will see, before long, how unreasonably he acts. He makes himself, and every one around him, uncomfortable."
"Well," said James Porter, "all I have got to say is that those fellows who go with him are very foolish. However, we can't help it. But, come," he added, "we were trying to find some pleasant way of spending the Fourth."
"Let's have a picnic on Strawberry Island," said one.
"We want something exciting," said another "Let's have a boat-race."
"Come, Frank," said Ben. Lake, "let's hear what you have got to say. Suggest something."
"Well," answered Frank, who was always ready with some plan for amusement, "I have been thinking, for two or three days, of something which, I believe, will afford us a great deal of sport. In the first place, I suppose, we are all willing to pass part of the day on the river?"
"Yes, of course," answered the boys.
"The next thing," continued Frank, "is to ascertain how many sail-boats we can raise."
"I'll bring mine."
"And mine," called out several voices.