The great war canoe looked worthless---certain to sink in less than
sixty seconds if launched!




CHAPTER II

"RIP" TRIES OUT HIS BARGAIN


Had a meaner trick ever been played on boys with whom it was so
hard to raise money?

"Ha, ha, ha!" chuckled Fred Ripley, so loudly that the dismayed,
angry boys could not fail to hear him.

"You sneak! You knew it all the time!" flared Dave Darrin, gazing
down in disgust at the lawyer's son.

"Maybe I did know," Fred admitted, yet speaking to Mr. Dodge.
"You see, one of my father's clerks served the papers which attached
the show."

There was no help for Dick & Co. They had parted with their money
and their "property" had been turned over to them.

It is an ancient principle of law that the buyer must beware.
The auctioneer had been most careful not to represent the canoe
as being fit for service. He had offered it as an historical