leader of the sextette, Jack Stormways. It united the good
qualities of both the other boats in that it was fast and at the same
time steady. While on occasion the cigar-shaped _Wireless_ could leave
Jack in the lurch, and the beamy _Comfort_ give more elbow room, taken
as a whole the _Tramp_ was the ideal cruiser; and both the other
skippers knew it away down in their secret hearts, though always ready
to stand up for their own boats.

It was close on the beginning of October when they made their start
from the City of Brotherly Love. For some time they would have to
dodge the many vessels that were moving hither and thither before the
busy port; but later in the afternoon they could expect to have clearer
weather, where the river widened out, with the shores farther apart.

For once George moderated his pace, and hovered near the others. He
felt so joyous over the sensation of being once more afloat, and with
such a glorious voyage ahead, that he wanted to be where he could
exchange remarks with his chums, and hear what they thought.

George had been doing considerable pottering with his engine lately.
He claimed that he had been able to increase its speed several miles an
hour.

"Wait till I get a good chance to show you, fellows," he now remarked,
with a satisfied air; "why, I expect to make rings around your blooming
old _Tramp_, Jack; and as for "The Ark," why, it'll be figure eights
for hers."

"Wow! don't I just see my finish, then," wailed poor, fat Nick, shaking
his head sorrowfully. "The vibration always was just fierce, and now
it'll just rattle me, so I'll be only skin and bones. You'll be
calling me the Living Skeleton before we ever get to Jacksonville, I
bet you, boys."

"Oh, when it gets so you just can't stand it any longer, call on Josh
here to change off with you, like he did once before," laughed Herbert.
"Josh is built on the order of a match, and seems to be especially
suited for a narrow-beam boat."

But the party mentioned did not seem to like the prospect any better
than Nick, to judge from the protest he immediately put out.

"Me to stick to the _Comfort_, fellows. One thing sure, if you are
last, you always know where you're at; and that's what I never did when
on that broncho of a _Wireless_. Why, it threw me twice; and souse I
went into the drink."

"But just think, Josh," insinuated cunning Nick, "all this shaking
would be the best thing ever for that indigestion of you