"Not me! I've had enough of water for several days, I reckon. Every time my feet touched bottom I'd be shivering, thinking of the soft feel of that plagued quicksand. But Frank seems to be enjoying his bath all right."
"Oh, Frank can do nearly anything. And now I'm going to join him, for here comes Adolphus to look after things."
Neither Frank nor Jerry cared to stay in more than a few minutes. The water was very cold, and a dip was really all they needed to start the blood to bounding through their veins and set them up for the day.
"Nothing happened while you were on deck, I suppose, Jerry?" asked Frank, as they splashed about and tried to keep from having their teeth chatter with the chill of the water.
"Not a blessed thing. Seems to be my luck, lately, to choose the wrong time to meet up with things," grumbled the other.
"Well, you've had your turn in the past. I remember when it seemed as though everything was coming your way, and the rest of us had to take a back seat. In the long run matters even up, you know," admonished Frank.
"Yes, I guess you're right there. That was a great day and night I had when we were camped up in the woods above Lumber Run. Things happened then, all right, what with my getting that deer, being treed by the wild dogs, afterward sniffed at by a bear in whose hollow tree-trunk I had taken refuge from the storm; and last, but not least, rescuing poor Andy from under the fallen tree. I hang up my hat. It will be a long time before any one of you beat that record," smiled Jerry.
"I'm going to get out. A little of this bath goes a long way with me, especially so early in the morning."
"Ugh! That's what I say, too!" exclaimed Jerry, making for the shore.
Already the tantalizing odor of bacon was beginning to permeate the air. Adolphus seemed to be right there on the job, and he could be trusted to get up a meal calculated to tempt the appetite of even a jaded business man in the woods, not to speak of five hungry boys, always ready to eat.