"Thank you
very much for this morning's business."

"That boy is a budding merchant," thought Johnson, staring after
Dick as the three high school boys trundled their cart away.
But in this estimate the hotel man chanced to be wrong.

"Let's hurry up and get away from the hotel---a long way off,"
urged Hazelton.

"Why?" asked Dave. "It was a fine place---for us."

"Yes; but I want to yell, with all my might," Darry declared.
"Seventy-eight dollars---think of it!"

"Nothing to get excited about," Dick declared calmly.

"When did we ever make so much money in life same time before?"
blurted Hazelton.

"Never, perhaps," Prescott admitted. "We made money, this time,
because we had something that everyone wants, and the supply of
which isn't large. We would have made far more money if we had
had a cart full of diamonds in the rough."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Hazelton. "We don't know
where to find diamonds."

"I didn't say that we did," Dick rejoined. "But we had something
that is rare, and in demand. The rarer a thing is that everyone
wants the better price can be had for it. The bass didn't bring
anywhere near as much money as the trout, just because people
don't call for black bass as much as they will for brook trout."

They were entering the little village beyond the hotel. They
had to go there in order to mail their letters, for all the boys
had taken advantage of this opportunity to write home.

"We'll be nervous with this seventy-eight dollars in camp, in
addition to the few other dollars we have," Dave suggested.

"We won't keep a lot of money in camp," Dick replied. "I'm going
to buy a money order for seventy-five dollars, payable to myself,
and send it to my father to hold for me until we get back. Then
I'll cash the order in Gridley and turn the money into our common
fund."

"And we'll add to that fund," proposed Hazelton eagerly.

"If the bass and the trout hold out," supplemented Dick.

"Say, wouldn't it be mighty nice if only we could get some home
letters here?" asked Hazelton, as the three left the cart at the
curb and turned to enter the post-office.

"We can look for home letters on our next trip here," Dick suggested.
"On Tom's, Greg's and Dan's letters I'm going to add a note on
the outside of the envelope to the effect that letters may be
sent to this office for us. And I'm going to add a postscript
to my letter to my father and mother. You fellows had b