“That’s just what I thought,” Clay exclaimed. “That’s just why I was scared stiff when I found out that we were just about out of gasoline as we struck the head of the rapids.”
“And you never said a word about it,” asked the captain, “to any of the boys? You kept it all to yourself?”
“Huh,” replied Clay, “where was the use in scaring the fellows out of a year’s growth. Didn’t you notice my cap walking straight up into the air? That was because my hair lifted it.”
“Boy, boy,” expostulated Captain Joe, “don’t lie to the old man. I don’t believe you were scared at all.”
“Well, anyway,” replied Clay, “the tanks are empty, and there will be a wagon down here pretty quick to fill them up. Now mind you, I’m not going to say a word to the other boys about this. If I do, they’ll never get over roasting me. We should have taken on gasoline at Kingston, but I forgot all about it.”
“Do you remember what you told me about this Lawyer Martin?” asked Captain Joe. “He seems to be the lawyer leading the band of ruffians who are trying to keep the lost channel lost forever!”
“Yes,” replied Clay, “and I was just going to speak about that. It was in Montreal that we met him, disguised as a riverside character, and I was wondering if it might not be well to go ashore and look him up.”
“Don’t you ever think of doing that,” Captain Joe replied. “You get your gasoline and lay in additional pancake material and we’ll go on down the river to Cartier island. That’s what they call that peninsula, isn’t it? Let me tell you this,” the old man added, “if you have anything more to do with this man Martin, you let him be the one to do the looking up.”
“That’s good sense, too,” agreed Clay. “He might discover that we were on our way back if we went up into the city. So we’ll remain quiet to-night and set out for Cartier island and the lost channel early to-morrow morning.”