not scamping
it, all things considered, is it?"

"By Jove!" said Uncle Dick, and again: "By Jove! An idea!"

"But about how big a boat do you think this particular family, just
after the war, can afford?"

"We could easy buy a riverman's fishing skiff," said Jesse, sagely;
"twenty feet long and narrow bottomed, but she floats light and runs
easy and can carry a load."

"But that's not a motor boat, son," said Uncle Dick. "Do you think we
can row to the head of the Missouri and get back by September?"

"Outboard motor," said Jesse, calmly.

"Hah! As though that could stem the June rise on the Muddy!"

"Two outboard motors, one on each side the stern, rigged on a cross
plank," said Jesse, never smiling. "Besides, a head sail when the wind
is right behind. And a rope if we got a head wind. And the oars and
paddles, too. We've paddled hours. Every little."

"We could get gas easy," said John. "Lots of towns all along, now."

"Easy as shooting fish," drawled Jesse. "I'm making a model of a new
flying ship now, though it isn't all done. I can run one of those
motors."

"What say, Rob?" Uncle Dick turned to the oldest of the three, and the
one of soberest judgment, usually.

"I shouldn't wonder if it's the answer, sir," said Rob. "How many miles
a day must we average?"

"As many as we can. Lewis and Clark and their big boat did eight or ten,
sometimes fifteen or twenty--the average was about nine miles a day. It
took them all summer and fall to get to the Mandans. That's above
Mandan, South Dakota--a thousand miles or so, eh?"

"Just sixteen hundred and ten miles, sir," said Rob, "according to their
figures. Just about nine miles a day, start to finish of that part of
the run, here to the Mandans--though the modern estimates only call it
fourteen hundred and fifty-two miles."

"If we can't beat that average I'll eat the boat," said Jesse, gravely.

"Well," said Uncle Dick, beginning to bite his fingers, as he often did
when studying some problem, "let's see. A good kicker might do two or
three miles an hour, by picking out the water. Two good kickers might
put her up to five, good conditions. Some days we might do forty miles."

"And some days, on long reaches and the wind O.K., we'd do forty-five or
fifty," said Rob. "Of course, we can't figure on top notch all the way.
We've got to include bad days, break-downs, accidents, delays we can't
figure on at home, but that always get in their work somehow. Look