"The wind may chip around again, and the kelp all disappear as clean as if the beach had been swept. But I don't care," added the farmer indulgently. "If you boys want to take the chance, I'll let Perce have the steers. You might gather some driftwood, anyhow. The storm must have driven a good lot of that high up, out of the reach of the common tides." His easy consent made the boys as happy as if they had been going to a circus; and they immediately began to make preparations for the trip. Moke and Poke ran home for their suppers, and came running back in an incredibly short time, bringing a basket of provisions, with ears of unhusked corn and bottles of spruce-beer sticking out, a blanket for their bed on the beach, and each a three-tined pitchfork for handling the kelp. These were put into the cart, along with articles furnished by Percival, and a quantity of hay which Mr. Bucklin said they would find comfortable to sleep on that night, even if it didn't come handy to feed the oxen. The yoked steers were then made fast to the cart, and they set off. CHAPTER III. GOING FOR SEA-WEED. Never king in his coach enjoyed a more exhilarating ride than our three youngsters in the old tip-cart, drawn by the slow cattle along the rough country road. The source of happiness is in our own hearts; and it is wonderful how little it takes to make it run over, in a healthy boy. A board placed across the cart-box served as a seat; and when one of them tired of riding on that, he would tumble in the hay. Perce wielded the ox-gad at first; but soon the twins wished to drive. Both reached for the whip at once. "Wait a minute! you can't both have it!" cried Perce. "The oldest first!" "I'm the oldest," declared Moke. "So I've heard you say," Perce replied. "But I don't see how anybody ever remembered." "They looked out for that when they named us," said Moke. "It was uncle Moses's idea," said Poke. "He told 'em, 'Call the oldest by my first name and the youngest by my last name----'" "'And that will fix it in folks's minds,'" Moke completed the quotation. "That was before they discovered the moles," said both together. "I never thought of that," said Perce. "But whenever anybody asks me which is the oldest, I think of your initials, and run over in my mind--_L_, _M_, _N_, _O_, _P_;--_M_ comes before _P_; then I say, 'Moke's the oldest.' But how could they tell you apart before they saw the moles?" "They tied a red string around Moke's ankle," said Poke. "But once the string came off, and Ma thinks it might have been changed," said Moke. "And to this day she can't say positively but I am Moke, and Moke is me," said Poke. Perce laughed. "Why didn't you have something besides a couple of teenty-taunty moles to distinguish you?" he asked. "Why didn't one of you be light-complexioned and the other dark? There'd have been some sense in that." "We couldn't!" said Poke. "You didn't try," replied Perce.