“One for keeping on, and another against it, which is a stand-off,” remarked Jack; “how about you, Buster?”
“Gee whilikens! I hardly know where I’m at,” muttered the fat chum, rubbing the tip of his nose in bewilderment; “fact is I’m about ready to do whatever the rest of you say.”
“In other words, you’re on the fence, I take it,” sneered George; “if there’s anything I dislike it’s to run across a jellyfish, something that has no opinions of its own. There, that’s one for you fellows calling me swine. But how about you, Jack? We ought to know what you think about it all.”
“That’s right,” agreed Josh eagerly, for he could see that their future movements were likely to be controlled by whatever Jack said, since with a tie his vote would be the deciding factor.
“I’ll be frank with you fellows,” Jack continued soberly. “We’ve gone to a whole lot of trouble and expense to get started on this cruise, and I hate like everything to give it up.”
“Hear! hear!” came from Josh, with a tinge of growing triumph in his voice.
“When I think of all that we’d have to go through with to get back to London the way we came I feel like saying we ought to try and keep right on down the river. The greatest danger to us would come from approaching the fighting region around Northern France and Belgium.”
Even George seemed to be hanging on Jack’s words as though, after all, his ideas of prudence might be undergoing a change.
“We could go ashore right away,” Jack continued, “and buy what stuff we need, for I see Bumpus is holding a list in his hand, and we know him well enough to feel sure he’s omitted nothing worth while having.”
“That settles it, then,” burst out Josh. “You hear, George, you’re outvoted three to one. We go on our way, snapping our fingers under the nose of every Magyar who feels like questioning our right to cruise down the beautiful blue Danube.”