“That’s right,” joined in Fred heartily. “I have a good mind to try it as it is.”
“I guess you’ll have to wait until you get your fortune changed so that you can pay a man a half-dollar for letting you shoot the rapids in his skiff.”
“You’re right, of course,” said Fred. “I never realized before what a convenience it is to have some change in your pocket. Never again will I go out for a day’s trip, no matter where it is, without having something in my purse.”
“You mean as long as your father or some one else puts it in your purse.”
“No, I don’t mean anything of the kind,” retorted Fred. “You don’t suppose I am always going to be dependent, do you?”
“I hadn’t thought very much about it,” laughed John. “If you want my opinion, it is that—”
Whatever John’s judgment might be it was not expressed at the time for at that moment the tall skipper was seen returning to the dock.
“Well, I got enough to stay our stomachs a little while,” said the captain as he swung the basket from his arm and deposited it under one of the seats in the motor-boat. “It isn’t the best kind and what such stylish young gentlemen as you be are used to.”
It was plain to both boys that the skipper had not taken their explanations seriously and that he still was doubtful as to their real purpose. However, he did not refer to his suspicions and in a brief time he had the motor-boat ready to set forth on its long voyage.
For a brief time after the boys departed from Sault Ste. Marie their interest in the sights along the nearby shores was so keen that their own plight in a measure was forgotten. Several times the little boat was tossed by the waves that were upturned by the passage of some large freight boat. Occasionally they were hailed by people on board, for in the summer-time many of these freight boats carried a few passengers, making a delightful trip through the great lakes.