Less than a week later, the two friends were back on the Great Lakes again—bound for Minnesota once more, this time to ship aboard a load of grain.
They had had a wonderful time as the guests of Mr. Kennedy. They saw all the sights of Buffalo, including Niagara Falls, that great escarpment over which Lake Erie plunges, and they had crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada to have one of those famous beefsteaks at the Chinaman’s in Fort Erie. Then, after Dr. Hilliard had pronounced Jerry James fit to walk again without the use of his cane, they had taken ship again.
Their vessel was now the Cecil Rogers (almost all Great Lakes boats are named for shipping leaders), for the beloved old James Kennedy was in drydock undergoing extensive repairs.
And their new skipper was?
“Sam!” the two youths cried as they came aboard.
Sure enough, it was their old friend, and there was Cookie, too, grinning at them from over the rail. And there was Gunnar towering behind him!
“Boys,” Sam said, chuckling, “meet my mate.”
There were shouts of jubilation and hand-shaking all around as Sandy and Jerry got their gear aboard ship and into their quarters. This time, they had a room twice as large as the rathole they had shared on the James Kennedy. And this time, aboard the Cecil Rogers, they shipped as deck hands.
“No more galley slavery for us,” Jerry exclaimed, and Sandy nodded in agreement.
That was how the two lads from Valley View passed the remainder of that summer. They sailed up and down the Lakes, as the Cecil Rogers hauled its cargoes of ore, grain and coal. Sometimes they made Canadian ports, and once they passed through the Welland Ship Canal into Lake Ontario, the lake that lies the farthest east.