"Not yet, I hope,--not till you are ready for college.--Now, how shall we tell your friends you have come?"
"Don't any of them know it?" asked the boys quickly. "I have been wondering that we heard no noise."
"No, indeed, no one knows it; but they will soon be astir, and then there will be noise enough, for camp-life has not quieted them down at all.--Captain Dare, if my boys spy the Una they will make an attack upon us that will frighten you, unless you are used to war-whoops."
"I'm not easily scared at a noise," said the captain laughing.
"Joe Chester would make nothing of swimming across here," said Ben.
"No, indeed, and in his delight at your return he would be sure to do something rash," added Mr. Bernard.
"How can he be glad to have us back?" asked Ralph with reddening face. "I am sure I am ashamed to see him, I treated him so shabbily."
"You may be sure he remembers nothing against you. He has been your warmest friend in camp, and most anxious for your welfare. If I had been ever so harshly inclined toward you, I should have been won by his intercession in your behalf. He was sure all the time that you regretted your course."
"Joe is a good fellow, and he judged me by himself," answered Ralph warmly, "and that was more than I deserved."
"Joe is a noble boy, true to the very core; but we must decide quickly how to manage your return to camp."