“If he’s ever accused of a crime, he’ll be able to argue his way out without half trying,” affirmed Ross.
“He could probably get off by giving the judge and jury a bad attack of brain fever,” sniffed Fred. “But what do you say; shall we bail the boat out? We shipped quite a good deal of water.”
“Not so much, considering what we came through,” replied Lester. “Let’s turn the boat over and save the trouble of bailing.”
They turned it over on one side and soon had all the water drained out. Then they left it to dry out in the sun until they should be ready to return.
“Get a wiggle on now,” enjoined Lester. “We’ve got a lot to do and we’d better get going at once.”
The boys started off at a brisk pace and soon found themselves in the part of the village where the stores were located. They made the rounds, Lester making the purchases and having them 194 wrapped up for him and his friends to call for and carry back later on. They met several of Lester’s friends and the time passed so quickly that they were surprised when they found that it was past noon.
“Time to eat!” exclaimed Teddy. “Think of me passing up lunch time like that! I must be sick or something.”
“It is rather a bad sign,” admitted his brother. “Still I guess you’re not going to die just yet. Only the good die young, and that lets you out. But what do you say to stopping in somewhere and getting a bite, Lester? Now that it’s brought to my attention, I find that I’m almost as hungry as Ted usually is. And I can’t put it much stronger than that.”
“Well,” replied Lester, “I was thinking that it might be fun to buy something here and eat it on the way back. We can get some sandwiches and other things and have a regular picnic after we get out of town.”
“Great!” pronounced Bill.