?" asked Herb, who was
not particularly fond of swamps and such ghostly places.

"No, we made out to start a little too late to get to the little river
beyond before night sets in," Jack replied.

"But there's a pretty good sized moon now, you remember, and we might
keep on. I'm afraid it'll give me the jim-jams to sleep in this
horrible old swamp," Herb went on to say.

"Like to oblige you," laughed Jack; "but the fact is we're going to tie
up mighty soon now. Only looking for a half way decent place."

"What's all the hurry?" grumbled the pilot of the _Comfort_.

"Look aloft and you'll soon see," came the reply, which caused Herb to
cast his eyes upward.

"Holy smoke! we're going to get some storm, I take it!" he immediately
exclaimed, as he saw heavy clouds mounting upward. "And to think that
nobody discovered the fact but you, Jack. Yes, I reckon, then, we'll
have to tie up, and get George's boat tent up before she comes. I'll
just have to grin and bear it."

"That's the way to talk, Herb," said Josh. "What difference does it
make to us, tight in our snug little hunting cabin? If anybody made a
kick it ought to be the poor _Wireless_ crew."

"Here, don't you waste your breath pitying us, now," flashed the
jealous George, who could never bear to have any one but himself run
his boat down.

There seemed but little choice of a camping place, since the shores of
the canal proved to be pretty much alike; so presently Jack threw up
his hand as a signal that he meant to stop, and the three boats were
soon being tied to trees.

"You'd think Herb expected a tornado, and wanted to make sure his old
houseboat didn't get carried away," laughed George, as he watched the
other secure both ends of the _Comfort_ with cables, that he tested
again and again.

"Oh, well, you never can tell," replied the other, without showing the
least ill will; "and 'a stitch in time saves nine,' they taught me at
home. 'What's worth doing at all is worth doing well', and sometimes
it pays."

"It always pays in a contented mind," remarked Jack, who admired this
positive trait in Herbert's nature, so different from George's flighty
ways.

It was the case of the hare and the tortoise over again with these two;
and while the speedy hare lay down to take a nap, confident of winning,
the slow going tortoise was apt to come along and get to the goal
first, after all.

The rain held off for a while, and they were able to cook supp