“What shall we do now?” asked John.
“Anybody can ask questions,” laughed Fred. “If I could answer it I would be very glad to.”
“Have you anything to suggest?”
“Yes,” replied Fred quickly as a sudden inspiration came to him, “it can’t be very far from here to Mackinac Island. Suppose we go back to the dock and see if we can’t arrange for our passage.”
“They will meet us with great enthusiasm,” said John laughing slightly as he spoke. “Probably they’ll hail us as the very fellows they have been waiting for.”
“But we won’t look so much like tramps when we get our other clothes on.”
“Maybe not,” assented John, “but we’ll have to find that out later. Come on back and we’ll see what we can do now.”
When the boys returned to the dock their anger was almost as great as their surprise when they discovered that the boat in which they had come had resumed its voyage.
“And they said,” declared Fred bitterly, “that they were going to hang up here six hours. They have gone in less than three.”
“Well, they are paid for our passage anyway. They have got two suits of clothes and that’s something.”