“Oh! nobody has accused you, Buster,” said Jack, soothingly, for he was fond of the good-natured fat boy.
“That’s all right, but I guess I’ve got feelings, and I can tell what every one of you is thinking,” the other went on, in an aggrieved tone.
“Just forget it, Buster,” Jack continued, for he knew only too well how the fat boy liked to harp on anything that worried him, and in this way make life miserable for the others of the club. “The mischief is done. Like as not we may never know how it happened. And there’s no need of our bothering our heads now about spilt milk. The question is, shall we change our plans, and go somewhere else this summer?”
“I say no!” exclaimed Herb, immediately and with firmness.
“That’s my case, too,” Josh echoed. “After we’ve made all our fine arrangements, it would be cowardly to back down just because those two mean skunks choose to tag after us and try to give us trouble.”
“Niver give up the ship! Thim’s my sintiments!” observed Jimmie, aggressively. “And I say the same,” remarked Nick. “Sooner or later you’ll find out how they learned our plans, and then you’ll all be sorry for putting it on me, that’s what.”
“Then it seems settled that we make no change,” said Jack, with a stern look on his face; “for I’m of the same opinion as the rest. We’ll go to the St. Lawrence, and if Tricky Clarence and Bully Joe try to upset our plans, they’ll find themselves barking up the wrong tree, that’s all.”
“And so he thinks he’s got a wizard boat that will cut circles all around my Wireless, does he?” said George, with the light of anticipated rivalry in his black eyes. “All right. Perhaps Clarence has got another guess coming. He’ll find me on the job all right, and ready to give him a warm run for his money.”
“When did we start talking seriously for the first time about choosing the Thousand Islands, and the St. Lawrence for our summer outing?” asked Herb, who seemed almost as anxious as Nick to find out the truth concerning the leak.
“I can tell you that,” replied the fat boy, quickly. “It was that afternoon when Jack asked us to stay after school, and meet him in the clubroom for a little talk. Don’t you remember, he read that letter he had from Clayton, the first one; and we soon voted to make the St. Lawrence our cruising ground this summer.”