t to the foreman and said:

"What do you want for that rowboat lying on the wharf? I'd like to
buy it. It will just suit me."

"It is not worth much, Mr. Sheldon," said the foreman. "You can
have it if you want it."

"No, I want to buy it."

"Oh, well, say a dollar, but you'll be a dollar out if you buy it."

"I don't think so," said Jack, who knew what the boat was worth, and
that a little money expended on it would not be wasted. "May I have
a bench for a few days?"

"Yes, for as long as you like."

Jack hired a man to take the boat to the shop, bought some paint and
brushes and some narrow boards used for flooring, and then sent for
the engine, which he placed near the boat.

He was of a mechanical turn of mind, as Brooke had said, and knew a
good deal about engines, and by the purchase of a few necessary
articles, and by working himself he managed in the course of a day or
so to put his engine into a condition that thoroughly satisfied him.

Then he bought a propeller, lamps and other necessaries, had the
engine fitted into his boat, and then proceeded to deck it over
forward, having already remedied any defects that it had, and making
it perfectly watertight, and like a new boat with a fresh coat of
paint and varnish.

He was a week on the work, but at last his boat was ready and was put
in the water with the aid of two or three men from the shop.

He took a run of a mile or so up the river, and then back to the shop,
greatly satisfied with the result, having fitted up a boat for less
than half what a craft of the cheapest kind would have cost him had
he bought it at retail.

He tied his boat up, covered it over and told the foreman that he
intended to leave it there for a day or so, and would then call for it.

"Looks to me as if you had a pretty good boat, Mr. Sheldon," said the
foreman. "I saw you going up the river. You made a good ten-mile
gait, I shouldn't wonder."

"Yes, and I can do better yet," said Jack, smiling. "I was just
warming her up a bit. She'll do better when she gets seasoned."

All this time Jack had said nothing to Percival about his boat, which
certainly did not look like a made-over affair now that she was
painted and decked over, had her lights and all her appurtenances,
an engine in her hold and a flagstaff at her bow, meaning to give
his friend a surprise.

The day before they were to leave the Academy and go into camp on the
river Percival asked Jack if he ha