"Watch me," replied Frank Bender, and, a moment later, he was standing on his head in his rather insecure place, his feet waving aloft in the air.
"Come back here!" cried Dick, as he slowed down the engine. "Do you want to fall off and drown?"
"No," replied Frank, as he assumed his normal position.
"But, you see, I never stood on my head on a motor boat before and I wanted to do it. I want to get all sorts of practice, for I'm going to join a circus some day, and there's no telling what stunts they may want me to do."
"Oh, you and your circus!" exclaimed "Bricktop." "You're always talking about it!"
Which was the truth, for Frank took every chance that came to him to indulge in acrobatics of one form or another. He was continually turning cart wheels, standing on his head or his hands, twisting himself into knots, from which it seemed impossible that he could ever get loose, or bending himself until he resembled an animated horse shoe. He was "as limber as an eel," the boys used to say.
"That's all right," responded the amateur circus performer, "I'll be in a show some day, with a suit of green and gold spangles, and you fellows will be paying money to see me. All except Dick. I'll give him a free pass."
"Thanks," answered Dick with a laugh, as he started the engine on full speed again.
"Say, wouldn't it be great if we could only make a trip to New York this way," remarked Fred Murdock.
"Yes, this boat would look nice traveling over dry land the best part of the way," said Dick with a smile. "If this lake only opened into a river or a canal we might do it, but it's out of the question now."