right then,” said the commander, with an assumed sigh. “I’ll have to do it myself, and I’m getting pretty old and fat for such work. The tubes are smaller than they used to be. But I dare say I can manage it. Where you going?” he asked Fenn suddenly, with a change of manner.
“No place in particular. Home, pretty soon. Why?”
“I was going to ask you to come aboard and have a glass of lemonade,” invited the captain. “It’s a hot day and lemonade is the best drink I know of.”
“Oh, I’ll come,” decided Fenn, for Captain Wiggs’s lemonade had quite a reputation. Besides there were always queer little chocolate cakes in the captain’s cabin lockers, for he was very fond of sweet things, as Fenn knew from experience.
“Haven’t saved any more sinking automobiles, lately, have you?” asked the commander, when Fenn was seated in the cabin, sipping a glass of the delicious beverage.
“No. Mr. Hayward has gone back to Bayville.”
“Bayville? Is that where he lives?” asked Captain Wiggs.
“That’s it,” replied Fenn. “Why?”
“That’s odd,” mused the captain. “I’m going right near there, this cruise. You see I’ve got a mixed cargo this trip,” he explained. “I’ve got to deliver some things at several lake ports, but the bulk of the stuff goes to Duluth. Now if you would only ship with me, as cleaner of the after boiler tubes, why you could go along.”
“Could I?” asked Fenn eagerly.
“Sure.”
“And – and could you take any other boiler tube cleaners, or – or any other help?”
“Well, I need a couple of lads to dust the coal,” said the captain, so seriously that Fenn thought he meant it. “You see if coal is dusty it doesn’t burn well,” he added. “We have to dust off every lump before we can put it in the boiler. Now a couple of handy lads, who were quick and smart could – ”
“Maybe you could use three,” suggested Fenn, with a smile.
“Sure I could,” spoke the captain. “That’s it!” he added quickly. “You and your three chums! Why not? You four could come along, and, if necessary, you could all dust coal. We use a lot of it. Come on now, here’s a proposal for you,” and the captain smiled good naturedly. “You four boys come along and make the trip to Duluth with me.”
“Would it – would it cost much?” asked Fenn, seeing a chance of carrying out the cruise he had planned.
“Not a cent. I tell you I’ll use you boys in more ways than one. Dusting the coal is only a small matter. There is the smoke stack to be scrubbed, the dishes to be hand painted and the windows to be taken out and put in again.”
“Do you mean it?” asked Fenn. “I mean, do you really want us on this trip, Captain Wiggs?”
“Of course I do. I sail in three days, to be gone a month or more. If you boys want to have a good vacation come along. Get the permission of your folks and let me know to-night.”
“I will!” exclaimed Fenn, his brain whirling with the suddenness of it all. “I’ll tell the other boys right away,” and, not even pausing to thank the captain for the lemonade, he hurried up the companion ladder, out on the deck of the Modoc and, jumping to the dock, ran up the street as fast as he could go.
CHAPTER VI
IN PERIL
“Here’s the stuff from the store, mom!” exclaimed Fenn, as he rushed into the house.
“What’s the matter?” asked his mother anxiously. “Has there been an accident, Fenn?”
“Got to find the boys! Captain Wiggs! Modoc! Going on a cruise! Tell you later!” was what Fenn exclaimed in jerky sentences as he hurried down the side steps and out of the yard.
“Oh, those boys! They get so excited you can’t do anything with them!” exclaimed Mrs. Masterson. “I wonder what they’re up to now?”
If she could have seen her son and his chums, whom he met on the street, soon after his hurried exit, she would have been more puzzled than ever.
“Great news! Great!” yelled Fenn, as he caught sight of Frank, Ned and Bart approaching him. “We’re going with Captain Wiggs to make a tour of the Great Lakes! Whoop! Hold me down, somebody!”
He grabbed Ned and Bart, each by an arm, and began whirling them around in a good imitation of an Indian war dance.
“Here! Let up!” cried Frank. “What’s it all about? Who’s killed?”
“Nobody, you ninny!” shouted Fenn. “We’re going on the Modoc!”
“Who says so?”
“When?”
“How many of us?”
“Where?”
“Are we all going?”
All Fenn could do was to nod his head vigorously. He was all out of breath. As soon as he could get enough wind to talk, he rapidly explained what Captain Wiggs had said.
“Does he mean we’re to work our passage?” asked Frank. “I don’t know as I care to shovel coal, if that’s what he means.”
“I guess he was only joking about that part of it,” answered Fenn. “I’m going, if I have to scrub the decks. It will be sport.”
“That’s right,” chimed in Bart. “I don’t mind working my way for the sake of the trip. When can we go?”
“Let’s go down to the wharf and have a talk with him,” suggested Ned, and they all agreed this was a wise idea.
A little later they were in the large cabin of the Modoc, which, for a freight boat, was well fitted up.
Captain Wiggs repeated the invitation he had given to Fenn. The boys would be welcome to make the trip with him, he said, as long as their parents consented. They would need an outfit of clothing, with rough garments for stormy weather, which might be encountered.
“And we’ll do anything we can to help you run the boat,” added Bart, who felt that some return ought to be given for the captain’s generosity.
“Well,” replied the commander, in drawling tones, “I don’t expect too much. But if you could manage to keep the door mats clean it would be a great help.”
“Door mats – on a ship?” questioned Ned.
“Yes; of course,” replied the captain, with an assumption of dignity. “You see the salt spray gets all over the deck, and if it’s tramped into the cabins it makes the floors dirty. My steward is very particular about clean floors, and I thought that if you could help keep the mats clean, why it would make his work easier, and he wouldn’t grumble so much. However, if it’s too much trouble, why of course – ”
“Oh, we’ll do it,” hastily agreed Fenn, fearing that the trip might be
