"Cracky, you could have knocked me down with a feather when I got that note. At first, I thought you must be jollying me—and even now it doesn't seem real."
The boys laughed. "Well, here you are, kiddo," said Roy, "so you see it's real enough."
"Do you suppose we'll have any adventures?"
"Why, as the little boy said when he spilled the ink on the parlor carpet, 'that remains to be seen.' We won't side-step any, you can be sure of that."
"There may be danger awaiting us," said Pee-wee.
"Well, I only hope it'll wait till we get to it," Roy laughed. "What do you say, kiddo, shall we hit it up for Nyack to-night or camp along the river?"
They decided to paddle leisurely, ending their canoe trip next day. About dusk they made their camp on a steep, wooded shore, and with the flame of their campfire reflected in the rippling water, Roy cooked supper.
Pee-wee was supremely happy. It is doubtful if he had ever before been so happy.
"There's one thing," said Tom, as he held the bacon over the flame. "I'm going to do my first-class stunts before we get there."
"And I'm going to do some tracking," said Roy; "here you go, Pee-wee, here's a bacon sandwich—look out for the juice. This is what Daniel Boone used to eat." He handed Pee-wee a sizzling slice of bacon between two cakes of sweet chocolate!