"Better than that, Dick. I've discovered what we are going to do with ourselves this summer." "I thought we were going back to the farm, to rest up, now that the term at Putnam Hall is at an end." "Pooh! Who wants to rest? I've rested all I wish right in this encampment." "Well, what's the plan? Don't keep us in 'suspenders,' as Hans Mueller would say." "Dear old Hansy! That Dutch boy is my heart's own!" cried Tom, enthusiastically. "I could not live without him. He must go along." "Go along where?" "On our outing this summer?" "But where do you propose to go to, Tom?" "For a trip on the broad and glorious Ohio River." "Eh?" "That's it, Dick. We are to sail the briny deep of that river in a houseboat. Now, what do you think of that?" "I'd like to know what put that into your head, Tom," came from the tent opening, and Sam Rover, the youngest of the three brothers, stepped into view. "Uncle Randolph put it into my head, not over half an hour ago, Sam. It's this way: You've heard of John V. Black of Jackville?" "The man that owed Uncle Randolph some money?" "Exactly. Well, Black is a bankrupt, or next door to it. He couldn't pay Uncle Randolph what was coming to him, so he turned over a houseboat instead. She's a beauty, so I am told, and she is called the _Dora_--" "After Dora Stanhope, of course," interrupted the youngest Rover, with a quizzical look at his big brother Dick. "Now look here, don't you start in like that, Sam," came quickly from Dick, with a blush, for the girl mentioned was his dearest friend and had been for some years. "Tell us about this houseboat, Tom," he went on. "The houseboat is now located on the Ohio River, at a place not many miles from Pittsburg. Uncle Randolph says if we wish to we can use her this summer, and float down to the Mississippi and further yet for that matter. And we can take along half a dozen of our friends, too." "Hurrah! that's splendid!" burst out Sam. "What a glorious way to spend the best part of this summer! Let us go, and each take a chum along." "Father says if we go we can take Alexander Pop along to do the cooking and dirty work. The houseboat is now in charge of an old river-man named Captain Starr, who knows the Ohio and Mississippi from end to end, and we can keep him on board." "It certainly looks inviting," mused Dick Rover. "It would take us through a section of the country we haven't as yet seen, and we might have lots of sport, fishing, and swimming, and maybe hunting. How many will the houseboat accommodate?" he added. "Twelve or fourteen, on a pinch." "Then we could have a jolly crowd. The question is, who are you going to take along? We can't take all of our friends, and it would seem a shame to ask some and not others." "We can decide that question later, Dick. Remember, some of the fellows already have their arrangements made for this summer." "I know Major Colby can't go," said Sam. "He is going to visit some relatives in Maine."