“Me, either,” added Belle.
“Wait until we see what it is,” suggested Cora. “It may be great fun, and, as long as it’s not vulgar I’m going in, if Jack says it’s all right.”
“Come one, come all!” the barker could be heard droning. The party of boys and girls went into the place, and found themselves in the midst of an excited and jolly crowd. Some had been washed, others needed washing, some wanted washing, and others desired it, but feared to undertake the ordeal.
“Good-bye!” called Jack, gaily, as he walked along a narrow passage, protected by a railing on either side, for an attendant directed there all who wanted to indulge in the new sensation.
“Hold on!” cried Ed and Walter. “We’re coming, too!”
“Get a hustle on,” ordered Jack. “The water is just right now.”
The girls stood where they could watch the process. Suddenly Jack and his chums could be seen bobbing up and down, as if they were in a boat on a choppy sea, and then the girls noticed that the lads were on a sort of endless, moving sidewalk, that did all sorts of queer “stunts” while, underneath, water rushed and bubbled along, seemingly all about the boys, but never touching them.
“You are now in the tub of soapy water,” announced a man who was evidently there for that purpose. “You are getting the first layer of contamination off.”
Faster and faster went the moving, endless sidewalk. It surged up and down, and from side to side. The boys were laughing and joking, and they had to cling to the railing to maintain their footing.
“This is great!” cried Jack.