boys when the Black Growler swiftly started on her long voyage.

"Are you going to keep her going like this all the time?"
demanded John as the swift little boat steadily continued on her
way.

"She doesn't like to slow up," replied Fred glancing behind him
as he spoke.

"She had better slow up than blow up," retorted John.

"No danger of that," laughed Fred. "The first thing you know
we'll be in the canal."

"I hope not," laughed Grant. "It will be a great day when the Go
Ahead boys learn how to use the English language. You don't mean
'in' the canal, you mean 'on' the canal."

"Perhaps he means what my grandfather used to call the 'ragin'
canawl'," suggested Grant.

"Maybe we'll be both IN it and ON it," laughed Fred. "If we
should happen to strike a rock or bump into another boat it
wouldn't be very hard to understand what would follow."

"That makes me think," said Grant solemnly. "Are you sure that
you know how to steer? If we were traveling on the Erie Canal as
they used to go soon after it was opened--"

"When was that?" broke in George.