The boys decided that night to spend the whole of the following day in the historic city. They came to anchor in a slip some distance from the town itself, and, for a wonder, passed an undisturbed night.
Early the following morning Clay and Jule set out to view the sights, it being understood that Alex and Case were to have their freedom in the afternoon. At first the two boys kept to the river front, examining the vessels they saw, and wondering if their fate would ever lead them to all the countries the craft represented.
As they turned away from the water front, Jule lifted his face and sniffed the air enjoyably.
“Do you know,” he said, “this is the first place I’ve struck for several days where the scent of the lost channel hasn’t been in my nostrils.”
“You’ve got so you can smell the lost channel now, have you?” grinned Clay. “That may be a good thing for our future use.”
“I can’t smell the channel,” Jule replied, “but I can scent the danger of it. Say, boy,” he added, “We’re going to have trouble when we go back to dig up the Fontenelle charter.”
“We came out for adventure, didn’t we?” asked Clay.
“Oh, I’m not kicking,” Jule exclaimed. “If I get mine, you’ll get yours, too. The only way to have any fun in this world is to go where the fun is. You can’t meet with adventures by staying in bed at home.”
As the boys proceeded up the street, an officer in uniform standing on the corner beckoned to them.
“Say, boys,” he said, “do you know those two men just behind you?”