"We will give you two dollars an hour for her, with the person to manage her," continued the gentleman on the shore.
"We have to go home to dinner pretty soon," added Ash.
"We will give you all a dinner into the bargain," persisted the stranger.
"Take him up!" said Tom Topover very decidedly.
"Take him up!" repeated several others. "We shall get home too late for dinner."
"We have no business to let her," added Sam Spottwood earnestly.
"We have just as much right to let her as we have to use her at all," added Ash. "Two dollars an hour is a big price."
The last speaker became less earnest when he saw that his friend was inclined to favor the proposition. Doubtless the promise of the dinner was quite as tempting as the money that was offered, though not one of the crew of the Goldwing did not think himself rich when he had a dime.
"Will you all stay on shore while I take the party out?" asked Ash Burton, turning to his companions, when his crony weakened.
The party replied in the affirmative to the question, not even Tom Topover making any objection to the plan. Ash ran for a small staging which answered for a wharf, and the Topovers all went on shore peaceably. The picnickers were having a grand time; for they had music and dancing, and there seemed to be at least a hundred of them. Farther back from the lake were half a dozen long furniture-wagons and other vehicles, while a great number of horses were picketed near them. It was evident that the party had come from some distance back in the country, and were not likely to know any thing about the ownership of the Goldwing.