didn't back out."

"Did you think we would, sir?" Dick inquired.

"No; I knew you boys wouldn't back out. And I don't believe you
threw away any bark on the way home, just to lighten your loads."

Hiram went about the yard starting the day's work for his men,
then came back to the boys.

"Now, just bring the bark over to the platform and we'll look
it over and sort it," suggested the boat builder.

Dick & Co. carried their loads over to the platform, where they
cut the lashings.

"We'll make three heaps of the stuff," Driggs proposed. "One
heap will be the worthless stuff that has to be thrown away.
Another heap will be for the pieces that are good but small; they'll
do for patches. The third heap will be the whole, sound strips.
Mebbe I'd better do all the sorting myself."

So the boys stood by, watching Driggs as he sorted the bundles
of bark with the speed of a man who knows just what he wants.
A quantity of the bark went on to the "worthless" heap, yet there
was a goodly amount in each of the other piles by the time that
the boat builder was through sorting it.

"You've done first rate, boys," he announced at last. "Is there
much more of that bark on Katson's Hill?"