"No, but the boat isn't heavy. We have pushed it down many a time," said Joe courageously.
"Never, with only four pairs of hands," added Dave, not quite so enthusiastic as his friend.
"Oh, come on. If we wait for the tide to come up, we shall have a whole posse of boys crowding in."
"All right; a long pull and a strong pull and a pull all together."
"There she goes."
"'She starts, she moves, she seems to feel
The thrill of life along her keel,'"
said Dave in declamatory style.
"Well may she feel it, grating over these stones," said Ben, laughing and pushing with all his strength.
"Whew! Now! There, all together again."
[Illustration: "Now! All together!" (missing from book)]