e until the raft has
passed," continued Dora Stanhope, with an anxious look in her pretty
eyes.

"Don't do it!" cried Tom. "We have as much right to the river as they
have. Tell 'em to keep their distance, Dick."

"I shall--when they get close enough."

"If that raft hits our houseboat, we'll be smashed to kindling wood,"
was Sam's comment. "I'd rather they'd give us a wide berth."

The Rover brothers were three in number, Dick being the oldest,
fun-loving Tom coming next and Sam coming last. When at home, they
lived with their father and their uncle and aunt at Valley Brook
Farm, pleasantly located in the heart of New York State. From this
farm they had been sent to Putnam Hall, as related in the first volume
of this series, entitled, "The Rover Boys at School." At this
institution of learning they had made a large number of friends, and
also some enemies.

A short term at Putnam Hall had been followed by a chase on the ocean
and then a trip to the jungles of Africa, in search of Mr. Anderson
Rover, who has disappeared. Then came a trip out West and one on the
great lakes, followed by some adventures during a winter in the
mountains.

After being in the mountains, the Rover boys had expected to go back
to school, but a scarlet fever scare closed the institution, and they
took a trip to the Pacific, as related in "The Rover Boys on Land
and Sea," the seventh volume of this series. They were cast away on
an island and had many thrilling adventures, but escaped, to receive
a warm welcome when they arrived home.

The scarlet fever scare was now a thing of the past, and the boys
went back to Putnam Hall, to participate in the annual encampment,
as told of in "The Rover Boys in Camp." Here they had plenty of sport,
and the outing was voted "the best ever."

What to do during the summer vacation was a question quickly settled
by the brothers. Their uncle, Randolph Rover, had taken a houseboat
for debt, and it was voted to go aboard this craft, which was located
on the Ohio River, and take a trip down that stream, and also down
the mighty Mississippi.

"It will be the outing of our lives," said Tom. "We can just take it
easy, and float, and float, and float."

The arrangements for the outing were quickly completed. With the
Rover boys went their old school chums, "Songbird" Powell, who was
always making up doggerel which he called poetry; Hans Mueller,
already introduced, and Fred Garrison. The houseboat was a la