day if they found it
necessary.

"Do you think we'll get any clew to Merrick and Tad Sobber?" asked Dick,
with a faint smile.

"Possibly," answered Captain Putnam, smiling back. "You Rovers are great
chaps for finding out things."

The sloop was provided with a tiny cuddy, or cabin, and in this the boys
placed a small stock of provisions and also a shotgun and some fishing
lines. They left the Hall after breakfast and were glad of the promise
of a warm day, with the breeze in just the right direction.

"You fellows will have to tell me where to steer the sloop to," said
Larry, after the mainsail had been run up. "I don't know where that old
house is."

"We have a general idea where it is," answered Dick. "Of course we may
have some trouble finding it. But if we get mixed up, we can go ashore
and ask the folks living in that vicinity."

The distance to be covered along the lake shore was in the neighborhood
of twelve miles, so the boys had quite a sail before them. They took
turns at steering, and said they liked the sloop very much.

About four miles had been covered when the breeze began to die away.
This was exasperating, but could not be helped, so the boys made the
best of it. As the sloop drifted along they got out some fishing tackle,
and it was not long before Sam brought up a fair-sized fish, of which he
felt quite proud.

"At this rate it will take us till night to reach that old house,"
remarked Dick, after they had been fishing half an hour. "It is too bad!
I thought we'd get there by noon when we started, even if the breeze did
go down."

"Oh, I think the breeze will start up again before long," said Tom
hopefully. "Let us enjoy this fishing while we have the chance," he
added, having just pulled in a real piscatorial prize.

By noon they had a good mess of fish to their credit, and then Sam
proposed that they go ashore and build a fire and cook some for dinner.

"There is no use of mourning over the wind," said he.

"If it wasn't for the sloop we might tramp to the old house," returned
Dick.

"I shouldn't wish to leave my boat just anywhere," said Larry. "Somebody
might run off with her,--and she cost quite some money."

"You might leave her in care of some farmer along here," suggested
Songbird, and then he added softly:

"For what is a boat without a breeze?
It's like a forest minus its trees.
It's like a table without a leg,----"

"Or a big blue top without its peg!"