"Why, Captain Ross, if that barrel weighs ten pounds when it hasn't got anything in it, you couldn't fill it with anything to make it weigh seven pounds. It would weigh more than ten pounds if you filled it with anything."
"Oh, no, it wouldn't!" the sailor said. "If I filled it full of holes, boring 'em in with one of Mr. Foswick's augers, then the barrel wouldn't weigh so much, would it? I'd cut a lot of wood out of the sides when I made the holes. Ha! Ha!"
Bunny thought it over for a minute. Then he laughed.
"That's a pretty good riddle," he said.
"I'm glad you like it," went on Captain Ross. "After this, when anybody asks what you can fill a barrel or a box with to make it weigh less, just tell 'em to fill it full of holes! Ha! Ha!" and he clapped his big hand down on his bigger leg and laughed heartily.
Bunny and Sue laughed also, and they knew they were going to have a jolly time on the trip to Christmas Tree Cove with Captain Ross to sail the Fairy, or, if there was no wind, to send the craft through the water by her gasolene engine.
This engine Bunker Blue was working on to mend, as it had been broken just before the two Bunker children went adrift from their father's dock.
"Will it be ready to sail to-morrow?" asked Bunny, as he watched Bunker hammering away at the motor.
"Oh, yes," was the answer. "There isn't much the matter with her. We'll be able to pull out in the morning."
And by hard work everything was finished that night on board the Fairy. Uncle Tad, the jolly old soldier, announced that he had his "knapsack" packed and enough "rations" to last him for a week, anyhow.