“The holes Spider and Beantoe bored, and then stuffed up with bread,” answered Cap. “It’s an old trick. I suspected something when I saw the crumbs. They didn’t clean ’em all up. Lively now! Cracky! Here’s another hole. Hand over those corks, Pete, if you don’t want to swim ashore. Quick now, and don’t let those fellows suspect. We’ll plug the holes, and go on as if nothing had happened. Lucky we’ve got plenty of corks.”
“Hey! There’s a lot of water coming in here!” called Bill.
“Keep quiet!” ordered his elder brother. “Plug it up. Don’t let on that there’s anything wrong. Beantoe and Spider are on shore watching us. I just saw the bushes moving, and there’s no wind, so they must be there. Say, are you going to be all day with those corks, Pete?”
Thus livened up Pete passed back the box of bottle-stoppers. By this time the bread in several holes in the boat had become soaked through, and the water was coming in at a lively rate. But Cap and his brothers worked fast. They could see by the little bulges, caused by the swelling plugs of bread, where the holes were, and, soon they had them all stopped up before enough of the river had entered to do any harm.
“Now row on, Pete,” ordered Cap. “I guess we went them one better this time.”
“Say, my feet are getting damp,” objected Pete, for there was a little puddle of water under his seat.
“Pity about you!” sneered Cap. “If it hadn’t been for me thinking of these corks you’d be wet all over. Row on, now, and when we get around the bend where those fellows can’t see us, we’ll sponge out. They’ll be wondering why their trick didn’t work. Row on!”
And, as Pete rowed, sending the boat along the river, it was watched by two very much puzzled lads on the bank. They wondered why the boat didn’t sink.
“Say, I thought you said they’d have to swim ashore,” observed Beantoe rather contemptuously to his crony.
“They will, in a minute. Maybe I pressed the bread in too hard, and it takes a while to soak up. But the boat will sink in a few seconds.”