"Couldn't get any at my house," Al confessed. "The girl's on a strike."

There was no mother at the Torrance house, and sometimes the
housekeeping there was "at sixes and sevens."

"I was going to get some crackers and sardines," confessed Whistler.
"I had no idea we could get this boat when I left the house. But I can
run up and get Alice to put us up a snack."

Frenchy was carrying Ikey's basket very carefully--indeed, lovingly. He
allowed his mate to catch the line and draw the _Sue Bridger_ in to the
float alone.

They stepped aboard, and Al made a grab for the basket handle with his
greasy hands. "Let's see the pups," he demanded suspiciously.

"Have a care! Have a care!" cried Whistler as the two struggled for
possession of the basket. "What is in it, Ikey?"

"Oi, oi! Oi, oi!" moaned Ikey. "They will the basket haf overboard yet!
Stop it! Stop it!"

It was Whistler who rescued the lunch basket with a firm hand. In the
struggle Frenchy came near going overboard, but he fell into the bilge
in the bottom of the boat instead.

"Wow!" he yelled. "Me clean pants! This old tub is leaking like a sieve,
Whistler!"