"Van Arsdale Spence," replied the bearer of the missive, as he just as carefully replaced it in his pocket.
"Hey! that's the same last name as his, ain't it?" remarked George.
"Spence—yes, and it may be some relation of his, perhaps a brother or father. But, fellows, that's none of our business, remember. Now, let's talk of other things, and forget that little adventure for a time."
Jack generally had his way, and in this case his chums realized that he was certainly right. So they started talking about their immediate plans for the first night out.
"We'll go ashore if we can, boys, and build a rousing fire," said Nick, whose one great delight, outside of eating, was seeing a bonfire burn; and, indeed, he always declared some of his remote ancestors must have been real fire worshippers.
"Yes, that would be a good idea," Jack admitted. "There's no telling how often on this trip we'll find ourselves forced to eat and sleep aboard, so when the opportunity offers we might as well get out to stretch our legs."
"Great scheme," declared Josh, who, being considerably longer than any one of his shipmates, suffered more in consequence of cramped quarters.
"Only one thing wrong," grunted Nick, shaking his head.
"I can guess he's thinking of eating right now," flashed Josh, who knew the symptoms in his companion only too well.
"Well, Mister Smarty, for once you hit the nail on the head," grinned the fat boy. "I just happened to think of something we hadn't ought to have forgotten to fetch along for our first meal."