“And now, if you don’t mind,” said Captain Joe, “we’ll cut all this talk out. I’m going to stay with you boys just as long as you’ll let me, and I don’t want to hear any more talk about that consarned two hundred dollars. I’ve heard too much already.”
“We think of it every time we see the white bulldog,” laughed Case.
“By the way,” said the Captain, “I’ve got that two hundred dollars in my jeans this minute, and if you should happen to want any of it just let me know. I really don’t know what to do with it.”
“Pigs will be flying when we use any more of your money, Captain Joe,” Alex smiled. “We’ve got plenty of our own.”
After breakfast, with Captain Joe at the helm, the boat was turned toward the Great Lakes. It was seven o’clock when they left Ogdensburg and at ten they were at Alexandria Bay.
“Suppose we keep on the Canadian side going up,” Captain Joe suggested, “and then, when we come back, we can take the American side.”
“Can you take the boat up and back without knocking off any of these headlands?” asked Alex with a wink at the Captain.
“Look here, young man,” replied the Captain not at all offended, “I was dipping the water into this river before you were born. I can take this boat within an inch of every island and crag and headland between here and Lake Ontario and never scrape off an ounce of paint. I’ve sailed on the ocean, too, and all up and down the Great Lakes. This St. Lawrence river was always like a little pet kitten to me.”
According to this suggestion, the captain left Alexandria Bay to the south and proceeded over to the Canadian side. The boat was now just starting in on its run through the famous Thousand Islands.
Many times it seemed to the boys as if Captain Joe intended to run the craft directly through some of the magnificent cottages located high above the river, but always the boat turned just in time to keep in foot-clear water. The boys stood leaning on the gunwale for hours watching the splendid panorama of the river.