"Yes, I wish it was time to go now. I'm tired of school," said the
little fellow.

But school must go on, whether there are houseboat parties or not, so
the Bobbsey twins had to study their lessons. I think that day,
however, Bert must have been thinking of other things than his books,
for when the teacher asked him what an island was, Bert gave a queer
answer. Instead of saying it was a body of land, surrounded by water,
Bert said:

"An island is a fire engine in the kitchen."

"Why, Bert Bobbsey! What ARE you thinking of?" asked the teacher.

"Oh, I--I was thinking of something that happened at our house last
night," Bert went on, while all the children in the room laughed.

"Then you'd better tell us about it," suggested Miss Teeter, the
instructor, for she was very kind. So Bert told of Freddie's mishap,
and how it was he happened to be thinking of that instead of the right
answer to the question about the island.

"I hear you have a houseboat, Bert," said John Blake, a boy in the
same room, as the children came out of school that afternoon.

"Yes, my father bought the one Mr. Marvin owned," said Bert. "It's a
fine one, too. We're going to have a trip in her soon."

"You're a lucky boy!" exclaimed John. "Can't you take me down and show