"Jest that, sir, an' nothin' else," replied Hiram, gravely. "Well, at last everything was all ready, an' bright an' 'arly one fine mornin' we slipped out an' down to the beach. Of course it wasn't no great shakes of a matter for us two boys to launch the boat an' get out through the surf. Mr. George he knows that, 'cause he's often gone out with us. Well, when we got out there wasn't enough wind to sail, the ocean bein' as smooth as one o' the plate-glass winders in Bill Smock's drug-store. So we had to get to work an' row. There was other boats goin' out, an' my sakes alive! what a lot of questions we had to answer! Seems to me there wasn't any reason for 'em, either, 'cause we boys often went out fishin'. But anyhow we pulled along till we got well to the north'ard o' Joppa an' out o' reach o' questions, an' then Dave he struck work. 'Blowed if I'm goin' to row all the way to York,' says he. Didn't you, Dave?" "That's wot I said," was Dave's laconic answer. "We set the mast an' sail, an' let her drift. It was a putty middlin' hot day, an' along in the early afternoon, when we hadn't got more'n five or six miles to the north'ard, I reckon both of us fell asleep. I don't know how long we was asleep, but I know what woke us up. The blamed boat turned turtle." "What--upset?" exclaimed Mr. Whittingham. [Illustration: "THEN I GOT OUT MY BIG RED HANDKERCHER AND WAVED IT."] "Yes, sir, upset. You see, there was a kind of a squall, an' we, bein' asleep, didn't get no notice of't till we was in the water. Well, I climbed up on to the bottom o' the boat, an' Dave he hung on to me an' grumbled. 'Nice sort o' doin's,' says Dave; 'there's that sixty-four cents' worth o' good grub gone to feed the fish.' An' then I says to Dave to shut up his all-fired nonsense, and be glad that we wasn't gone along with the grub. Then I got out my big red handkercher an' waved it. There was a small coastin' schooner ratchin' along not more'n a mile away. The squall had died down to a good breeze, an' she was a hustlin'. She didn't see us, though. Well, sir, we hung on to the bottom o' that there boat till putty nigh sundown, an' all the time we was a-driftin' further an' further out to sea. About then this here Dave he woke up an' says, 'Here comes a big wessel right at us.' Sure enough, there was a full-rigged ship what had just cast off her tug an' was a-makin' sail. She was a-headin' so's to come within a hundred yards of us. So I got the handkercher out again an' waved it, and when she got putty near we both yelled. The ship hove to an' lowered a boat, an' in a few minutes we was aboard o' her. We told the skipper our story an' he laffed. He wasn't putty when he laffed, either, because his teeth was all out in front an' his nose was broke. 'So you was bound to New York, was you?' says he. 'Well, now you're bound to London.' I didn't want to go to London, but this here Dave--he don't know much, sir--he said he'd jest