THE GOLDEN BOYS ON THE RIVER DRIVE [Illustration: Rex had some trouble at first in keeping his balance, but he was quick to catch on to the knack.] THE GOLDEN BOYS ON THE RIVER DRIVE By L. P. WYMAN, Ph.D. Dean of Pennsylvania Military College AUTHOR OF “The Golden Boys and Their New Electric Cell,” “The Golden Boys at the Fortress,” “The Golden Boys in the Maine Woods,” “The Golden Boys with the Lumber Jacks.” A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers New York THE GOLDEN BOYS SERIES A Series of Stories for Boys 12 to 16 Years of Age By L. P. WYMAN, Ph.D. Dean of the Pennsylvania Military College The Golden Boys and Their New Electric Cell The Golden Boys at the Fortress The Golden Boys in the Maine Woods The Golden Boys with the Lumber Jacks The Golden Boys on the River Drive The Golden Boys Rescued by Radio The Golden Boys Along the River Allagash Copyright, 1923 By A. L. BURT COMPANY THE GOLDEN BOYS ON THE RIVER DRIVE Made in “U. S. A.” THE GOLDEN BOYS ON THE RIVER DRIVE CHAPTER I THE BREAKING UP “Hurrah! She’s breaking up.” Two boys were standing on a little wharf looking out over the ice covered surface of Moosehead Lake in northern Maine. They were fine specimens of American boyhood. Bob Golden, nineteen years old, lacked but a trifle of standing six feet and was possessed of a body perfectly proportioned to its height. His brother Jack, a year younger, was not quite so tall but his body was as perfectly developed. Except when at school they had for years lived in the great out-of-doors, in the Maine woods and on the Maine lakes, and the free and open life coupled with the invigorating air of the Pine Tree State had given them “mens sana in corpore sano.” They had arrived at the lumber camp belonging to their father the day before, having driven up from their home in Skowhegan, a small town about fifty miles to the south. The Fortress, a military college in Pennsylvania, where they were cadets, had closed for a three weeks’ vacation and they had lost no time in reaching the camp. “She’s breaking up,” Jack repeated, dancing about like a wild man, on the end of the wharf. “Just look at that crack run out into the lake, will you,” he added, as a heavy booming sound reverberated through the vast forest. “And just think,” Bob declared, as he grabbed his brother by the arm and held him fast, “by night there won’t be a speck of ice to be seen anywhere on the lake. I wonder where it all goes to so quickly.”