He turned to an elderly gentleman who sat by his side and asked:
“I have heard that there is a lost channel on the American side just this side of Lake Ontario. Is that true?”
“Yes,” said the man with a smile, “and I have heard that there is a lost channel down below Quebec, too. And I read in the newspaper that you boys were in search of it. Is that so?”
Clay faced Jule with a smile on his face.
“Whatever we do,” he said, “we can’t escape the lost channel.”
[CHAPTER XIV—AN OLD FRIEND APPEARS]
“How did this channel get lost?” Alex asked with a whimsical smile.
“Well,” replied the other, “I don’t believe there is a lost channel. You may go down the St. Lawrence river, up one side and down the other—and I’ve been over every inch of it—and you can’t find any place for a lost channel, unless you locate it at a headland which was once an island. In that case, there might be a lost channel. But the charts of the river for two hundred years show no such change in conformation.”
“That seems to be conclusive,” Clay suggested.
“Conclusive? Of course it is, but you can’t make this man Fontenelle believe it. Now, look here, stranger,” he went on, “I’ve read what the newspapers say about you, and I know that you intend to go back there and look for that lost channel. Is that right?”