He nailed some boards and pieces of wood together, and when he pushed the raft into the shallow water, near the shore of Sandy Point, as the children called their play-spot, Laddie found that he could stand up on his raft and push himself along. The raft floated with him on it, as though it were a boat. Of course the water came up over the top, but as Laddie went barefooted this did not matter.
One day he went down to the lake with a piece of clothesline. On the way he whistled to Zip, the playful dog.
"What are you going to do with him?" asked Russ.
"I'm going to see if he'll give me a ride," answered Laddie.
"A ride? How? There isn't any express wagon here."
"I don't need an express wagon," said Laddie. "I'm going to make Zip be a whale, or maybe a shark, and pull me on my raft-boat."
"How can you?" asked Russ.
"I'll show you," Laddie answered.
He tied one end of the piece of clothesline to his raft, and on the other end of the line he made fast a round stick.
"Here, Zip! Zip!" cried Laddie, "Go after the stick!"