sion.

Nothing occurred during that night to alarm them, though Nick professed
to feel nervous, after having heard of the adventure which Jack and
Jimmie had met with on the other occasion.

In the morning they did not hurry, for they could not leave that
station until the arrival of the third craft, no matter if it meant
several days' delay, such being the conditions of the Dixie cup race.

"There they come!" whooped Nick, after they had finished breakfast; he
had been looking through the glasses which George owned, and of course
his thrilling words quite electrified the others.

"You're right, Buster; that's the steady old _Comfort_, all the same,"
said Jack, as he too leveled his marine glasses up-river way.

"She rides like a big goose," laughed George.

"But mighty comfortable, all the same," sighed Nick, mechanically
rubbing his fat haunches as though they still felt sore from contact
with the sides of the narrow boat, while trying to sleep.

When the steady-going launch brought up alongside, many inquiries were
made as to what had detained them so long.

"Lots of trouble," Herb replied, readily enough; "not with the engine,
for she never missed a note; but Josh here got cold feet after a
steamboat shaved us, and made me cut down speed, so we hardly did more
than crawl with the current for hours. Yesterday we boomed along,
trying to make the riffle in time; but finding we couldn't, we just
stopped about ten miles above for the night."

"And then as we came into Quincy I went ashore to see if there was any
mail. A letter for each of us, Nick, and only a paper for Jack," with
which Josh handed over the articles in question.

As the two boys had not eaten any breakfast, it was decided to wait for
them. Jack after a bit picked up the home paper, and idly started to
open it.

The others immediately heard him utter an exclamation, and looking up,
saw that he seemed to be eagerly reading something he had discovered.

"Well, I declare, if that just don't beat the Dutch!" he remarked.

"What does?" cried Nick, all excitement. "Has John Guthrie got new
shingles on his barn; or was old Weatherby seen at church for the first
time in ten years?"

"Yes," added Josh, "don't keep us waiting so long, Jack. Go on and
tell us what excites you so. Nobody ain't got twins, have they?"

"Say, fellows, it's happened at last. You know the bank over at
Waverly? Well, it's been robbed--cleaned out, the paper says, a