"Only it ain't!" said Gray, with a quiet laugh. "This is the River Severn. The Chesapeake is some two miles below."
"There, Jack," said Ned Ellis, "I'd give up now. You don't know quite so much as you thought you did."
"What a queer old town it is," said Frank, generously wishing to draw attention from Jack's mortification. "It isn't a bit like Boston. It don't begin to be as smart a place."
"Of course not!" said Jack, more eager than ever now to appear knowing. "And why should it be? Boston is the capital of Massachusetts; and if Annapolis was only the capital of this state, it would be smart enough."
"What is the capital of this state?" asked Gray, winking slyly at Frank.
"Baltimore! I thought every body knew that," said Jack, with an air of importance.
This ludicrous blunder raised a great laugh.
"O Jack! O Jack Winch! where did you go to school?" said Joe Harris, "not to know that Frederick is the capital of Maryland."
"So it is! I had forgotten," said Jack. "Of course I knew Frederick was the capital, if I had only thought."
At this the boys laughed louder than ever, and Jack flew into a passion.