Hot coffee, bacon and eggs, that were fresher, Cora said, than the high-priced ones at home, made them all look at the day’s prospect with genial spirits.
“And now we’ll make another attempt to get to Camp Surprise,” said Cora, as the anchor was hauled up and the engine set in motion.
“I’m surprised that we didn’t get there before,” Jack said.
“Oh, what a miserable pun!” groaned Walter.
Good time was made to the junction where Batter Creek flowed into the Chelton river. It was not much of a junction and the creek was so unimportant a stream that Cora and her friends had never thought of going up it.
“But this time we did it in spite of ourselves,” said Bess.
“It was only because of the mist and darkness that I made the wrong turn,” declared Cora.
They stopped long enough to send reassuring telegrams home, and also one to Mr. and Mrs. Floyd, explaining the delay.
Again they were on their way up the Chelton river, and for a time all seemed to go well. But four miles from their destination, engine trouble developed, and when the cause of it was discovered, it proved to be a break that needed the attention of a machinist.
“We could leave the boat here and go on,” Cora said, “but we have made arrangements to have it taken care of at Riverhead, and the man I have engaged won’t know what to think if we don’t come.”