Both the boys turned red, and looked silly. They were twins evidently,--exactly the same size, and almost precisely alike in the face. Each of them had bright red hair, a great many freckles, and a snub nose. "Are you one of the fellows that was on this boat?" asked one of them. "Yes," said I. And I told them my name. "That's my shirt you've got on, by the way." "T-t-tell him about it, S-S-Spike," said the one at the wheel. "Tell him yourself!" growled the other. "W-Well," said the steersman, giving the wheel a twist, "you s- see... you s-see... oh! I can't t-tell him,--it makes me s- stutter so d-darned much!" "Go ahead!" returned Spike. "Well," he began again, "you s-see, we were all going to B-Big D- Duck for a month, an' F-Father said--oh! our name is K-K-Kidd, you know,--the K-Kidd kids,--th-there! everybody has to spring that old chestnut about us, because they think it's f-funny. It's so old it's m-m-mouldy, but we might as well s-say it and g-g-get it over with! W-Well, we were all going to Big D-D-Duck, s-s-same's we do every s-summer. B-But F-Father got awful cranky 'cause we f- fell behind at s-school last year, and he m-mapped out a p-p- programme of entertainments f-for us this s-summer that didn't strike us as--as--as exactly oh! as exactly b-b-bully, you know... In f-fact, it was b-b-bum! S-Studying about all s-summer... S-Say, w-won't you f-freeze?" I thought I might do so, myself, so I took off my wet clothes, and spread them out in the sun. Then I went below, found my bag, brought it up on deck, and began to dress again. He went on, in the meantime, with his story. "Well, F-Father didn't c-c-confess his f-foul p-plot till the very d-day we were going to Big D-Duck. That was--it was--oh, when was it, S-S-Spike?" "It was--er--I'm all mixed up about time," said Spike. "S-Same here," replied the other. "It was day before yesterday,--Tuesday," Spike finally remarked. "T-Tuesday. That's right. W-Well, F-Father g-gave us this awful j-j-jolt at l-l-luncheon. Th-That was F-Father's idea of m-making m- m-merry. It didn't t-t-tickle us m-most to d-death, s-s-somehow. We t-talked it over that afternoon, out in the b-barn, and we decided to k-k-k-k-quit. We'd t-take the b-boat ourselves, and--" "We were all going to sail over to Big Duck in a cat-boat, you know. Father hires a boat every summer." "S-Say, S-S-Spike, g-go ahead, if you want to." "I don't. You go on,--you're getting there all right. You'll come to the point in an hour or two."