sides, Reddy was quite an original
chap. He had taken one of the borrowed roosters into his room the night
before, and when, early in the morning, Mr. Chanticleer had mounted the
footboard of the bed, flapped his wings and given vent to his opinion of
a boy who persisted in sleeping at that late hour of the day, the noise
was too much for even Reddy's drowsy sensibilities.

[Illustration: Fig. 65. Off to the Island.]

THE TRIP TO THE ISLAND.

[Illustration: The Ledge below the Goblins' Platform.]

[Illustration: The Camp at Willow Clump Island.]

Our scow was not large enough to carry all the things we had to take
with us, but as Mr. Schreiner was going to take Uncle Ed up in his
wagon, we left the rest of our luggage for him to bring along. We boys
walked the eleven miles up the canal to Lumberville, towing the barge.
It was a tiresome task; but we divided the work into two-mile shifts,
two boys towing at a time and then each taking a mile ride as steersman
in the boat. It was about noon when we arrived at Lumberville, and then
we had to unload our boat before we could haul it out of the canal and
down to the river. The river on the Jersey side of the island was so
shallow that we waded across, pushing the boat ahead of us. The current
was too swift to permit of rowing, and it was rather hard for us to keep
our footing. But we managed to reach our destination finally without any
mishap. The island was thickly wooded, except for a small clearing where
we landed. The first thing we did was to unpack our eatables, and Jack,
the cook, soon had an appetizing pan of bacon and eggs sputtering on the
kerosene stove.

[Illustration: Fig. 66. Dragging the Scow over to the Island.]

PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION.

As no better position offered at the time we pitched our tent in the
clearing, pending a thorough search for a more suitable place elsewhere.
Around the tent we dug a trench about a foot deep to prevent water from
entering our quarters when it rained. It was about time for Uncle Ed and
Mr. Schreiner to appear with the rest of our luggage, so we did not have
time to do much exploring, but sauntered southward along the shore,
always on the lookout for their arrival. About a quarter of a mile from
the tent we came across the wreck of an old bridge, which had been
washed down by some freshet. This was a great find, and served us many
purposes, as will appear later.

While we were examining the wreck we heard a dista