“Why not?”
“Because if they did turn out to be mud hens we’d never hear the last of it.”
“H’um that’s so. What do you advise, then?”
“We’ll wait till after breakfast. Then we’ll say we’re going to take a tramp and sneak off toward the head of the lake. If they are the canoes they’ll still be there.”
“And if not——”
“We’ll have had a tramp.”
“Say,” exclaimed Merritt as a sudden idea struck him, “how do you propose to get them, even if they do turn out to be the canoes. Stand on the bank and call ‘come, ducky! ducky!’”
Tubby looked at his corporal with unmixed scorn.
“We can swim, can’t we?”
“I see you have every objection covered, like a good Scout, Tubby. Well, we’ll try after breakfast. If they’re not the canoes there’s no harm done, anyhow.”