"And the boys seem to enjoy it."
"I suppose not many of them ever saw our boats before."
"Suppose we take them in; they will be very willing to walk home, say from the grove where we dined, for the sake of the sail."
"Good! I didn't think of that before. Up with the orange!"
The boats landed, and the astonished Oaklawn boys were distributed among them. They seemed to regard the favor as an unexpected condescension, and their delight knew no bounds. As Little Paul expressed it, "they were tickled half to death"; and when they reached the grove it was a sad and bitter disappointment for them to get out and go home.
"I was thinking of something," said Charles, a little while after they had landed their passengers.
"What was it, Charley?" replied the commodore.
"That we might invite the boys of Oaklawn to spend a day with us on the lake."
"Capital!"
"We could give them a picnic on Center Island."