Transcriber's Note Illustration markers have been moved near to the text they illustrate. All variant spellings, including variant hyphenenation, have been retained. However, obvious printer's errors have been corrected and punctuation errors have been repaired. [Illustration: HE LINED A COURSE STRAIGHT FOR THE BOAT.] BEAUFORT CHUMS BY EDWIN L. SABIN ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES COPELAND [Illustration] NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY Contents I. THE JUNE RISE 1 II. THE GREAT LUMBER FIRE 21 III. THE BREAK-WATER ACCIDENT 35 IV. THE CAMP AT DEEP CREEK 49 V. TURTLES, FISH, FROGS AND SNAKES 65 VI. THE GHOST OF THE INDIAN MOUNDS 86 VII. THE COUNTY FAIR 106 VIII. NED THE NIMROD 117 IX. THE CAMPAIGN PARADE 136 X. THE TROUBLE AT BREEDE'S HILL 151 XI. THE ROUTING OF BIG MIKE 168 XII. THE LONG SKATE 181 XIII. AN UNEXPECTED BAG 202 XIV. BIG MIKE AGAIN 218 XV. JUST ABOUT BOB 237 XVI. THE LAST OF BOB 248 XVII. THE RAID THAT FAILED 261 XVIII. CHANGES 274 Beaufort Chums CHAPTER I THE JUNE RISE "The river is coming up at the rate of an inch an hour!" announced Mr. Miller, reading from the evening paper. "At one o'clock it was eighteen feet, and reports from the north indicate the highest water ever known on the Upper Mississippi." "Hurrah!" cheered Ned, who was sitting on the porch steps, waiting for supper, and had heard through the open window. "Why, Ned!" rebuked his mother. "Think of all the suffering this means!" "Well, anyway, the river's booming," ventured Ned, abashed. "It's even with the railroad tracks. I was down looking at it after school." "I'm sorry for the poor people on the flats--the lowlands must be flooded," continued Mrs. Miller. "But they tie their houses to trees with ropes, and move into the second stories, and go about on rafts," explained Ned, to whom such a plight was not without fun. "Still, I fancy that these people don't find their fix very amusing, Ned," commented his father. "Nor is it humorous to the merchants to have their cellars swamped and their goods damaged." Ned temporarily subsided--meekly convinced of the serious phase of a freshet, but nevertheless seeing sport in prospect. "Say, father," he blurted out, in the midst of supper, "Hal----" "Neddie! How often have I told you not to address anybody with 'say'?" interrupted his mother, severely. "Oh!" admitted Ned, guilt in his tones. Rallying from the setback he resumed: "I only wanted to ask if I couldn't go over on Eagle Island to-morrow with Hal, in our boat. It's all under water, and every one has moved off."