you?"

"Yes. I've got a stout lock on the door now, and every time I
leave the shanty I drag my little canoe, as I call it, into the
house. If I didn't some thief would run off with it sure. They're
a tough crowd around here, the boys I mean. Wonder if we'll run up
against many as bad when we journey along?" remarked Thad; and in
good time he would learn that the Ohio and Mississippi rivers
constitute what might easily be termed the "Rogues' Highway,"
since hundreds of tough characters make use of the current, in
order to slip from one borough that has grown too hot for their
comfort to another where they are not known.

But perhaps it is just as well that we do not see the difficulties
that lie in our path, lest they daunt us by their multitude;
coming one at a time we are enabled to wrestle with the trials and
tribulations, and overcome them gradually.

Filled with enthusiasm the two lads plunged into the task they had
laid out, and long ere the seven days had expired were ready for
the voyage over unknown waters; the little shanty-boat had been
thoroughly repaired, and changes in her interior made, looking to
the comfort of the crew, and all supplies brought aboard that the
limited means of the boys would allow; so that on the tenth of
November all was in readiness for the launching.