“What’s he waving that newspaper for, d’ye think?” Buster asked, presently.
“You might guess a thousand years, and never know,” remarked George, “but he’ll be along right soon now, and then we’ll find out. Take a sprint, Jimmie; stretch a single into a two-bagger, and slide for second! Here you come, old top! Now, what’s all the row about; tell us?”
Jimmie, red-faced, freckled, good-natured Jimmie, grinned, and held out the open newspaper toward them.
“Sure and they do be havin’ the dickens av a time up beyant us. Look at the illegant head-lines, would ye? ‘Bowld robbery! Thaves break into the Bank, and loot the Safe av a Forchune! Lawrence all excited over the visit av yeggmen! Reward offered for tha apprehension av the Rascals.’ Whoop! now, don’t that sound loike another time when we was sthartin’ down the river. History, begorra, does love to repate itsilf. But for the love av goodness lit’s get off. I’m that ager to feel the water gurgling underneath the keel av a boat, I could straddle a log, and take me chances av a cruise down the ould river. Jack, darlint, give the worrd!”
[CHAPTER II]
THE CRUISE BEGUN
“All aboard!” sang out Jack, as he thrust the paper containing such sensational news into his pocket, to be glanced over at some more convenient season, and little suspecting how it would enter into the fortunes of the party of fun-loving boys while on their Easter holidays’ cruise.
Everybody immediately seemed to be in motion, and the way in which the various crews stood by to cast off hawsers, while the skippers looked to their engines, was well worth seeing.
“Let go!” called the commodore of the boat club, when he saw that everything was ready.