ame to cooking he had them all "beaten to a frazzle."

"What's that light away off there to the south, Jack?" asked Herb,
after they had eaten to a standstill.

"I rather fancy that must be the Hog Island Light," replied the other.
"Before we make that, we have to cross another inlet, this time over a
mile wide; but they say Little Machipongo isn't in the same class as
that last one, for danger and ugly currents."

"Gee! I hope not," grumbled Nick, who was scraping the pan in which
the oysters had been cooked so beautifully.

"Then comes Great Machipongo Inlet, and a few more for tomorrow, after
which we are due to reach Cape Charles," Jack went on, always ready to
impart information when he saw that his chums wanted to know anything.

"This whole coast seems to be a series of bays and sounds, connected by
little creeks and channels that, at flood time, can be safely navigated
by a boat that don't happen to draw many feet of water," Herb remarked.

"Yes, and that is the case pretty near all the way from New York to the
lower end of Florida," Jack observed. "Some day it's going to be
possible to make the entire trip as easy as falling off a log. The
Government is doing a heap of dredging in lots of places."

"Yes," remarked George, sarcastically; "if they'd only put some of the
millions in here that they squander on good-for-nothing creeks in the
backwoods, it'd be done in no time."

"Huh!" grunted Nick, "I'd just like to have the fat contract for
dredging out some of these muddy creeks. Say, mebbe a fellow wouldn't
get rich on the job, eh? I think I'll have to mention it to my dad,
for he's keen on contracts, you know."

They passed a pleasant evening. Jimmy was easily induced to get out
his banjo and give them many brisk tunes that seemed to just go with
the plunkety-plunk of the joyous instrument.

"Seems like a banjo just chimes in with Southern scenes," remarked Herb.

"Oh! shucks! this ain't the Sunny South yet awhile, Herb," laughed
Josh. "Wait till we get down in South Carolina, anyhow, where we'll
run across some palmetto trees. That gives the real tropical flavor."

"If there were only some monkeys frisking about in the feathery tops,
it'd add a heap to it, in my opinion," remarked Nick.

"Or a few coy mermaids," laughed Jack; "but then our friend here
wouldn't find it quite so easy to climb to the top of a palmetto as to
tumble overboard."

"Let up on that, won't you, Jack? It's mean, r