t seem to remember the first thing about the country. You could
lose me down here without any trouble, I guess. Plenty of forest all
right, eh, Max; and we won't have any great time makin' a fire, if only
we get matches? Mine are all wet."

"I carry a few in a waterproof case," Max told him; "so don't let that
worry you any, Bandy-legs. The question is with us, after the fire,
what? We'll all be hungry and the girls haven't had a bite to eat
since early morning."

"Well, there's a house, surrounded by water," suggested Steve; "guess
we'll have to cabbage anything we can find around loose. In times like
this you can't wait to ask permission. Eat first, and pay for it
afterwards, that's the motto we'll have to go by. If we're on the
right side of the luck fence we might even run across a smoked ham
hangin' from the rafters. They keep all kinds of good things sometimes
in these cabins along the shore."

"Seems to be something like a hencoop back of the house," added
Bandy-legs.

"Oh! s-s-say, don't go to g-g-getting a feller's m-m-mouth all made up
for nice r-r-roast chicken, and then never find any," objected Toby.

"Course we'll find all sorts of good things," declared Bandy-legs,
stoutly; "why, look what's happened to us already; and tell me that
this ain't our lucky day. We went down with the old bridge, but not
one of us got thrown into the water. Then we sailed twenty miles, and
dropped in on the roof of the French house just like we'd been drawn by
a magnet, which p'raps some of us must a been, hey, Steve? And then,
by George! just when we wanted a boat the worst ever, along came this
tub, and heading straight in for our shaky roost like it was being
piloted by hands none of us could see. Luck? Why, we've got it
plastered all over us, from head to foot. Chickens, ham, anything you
want, just ask for it, and then wait and have faith!"

"We're glad that you feel so certain," Mazie told him, "because I'm
ready to own up that I'm awfully hungry, and could eat almost anything
just now."

"And I'm beginning to feel a little weak myself," admitted Bessie;
"which, I suppose, is caused from going without any regular meal. None
of us dared go back down through that trap once we got on the roof,
because we were afraid the house might float off while we were below.
Yes, we hope there will be something you can get in that house."

"Seems to be abandoned, all right," Steve remarked, shading his eyes
with