to start soon after dinner, and shall take some lines and bait
with us. We have got leave till lockup, so we shall have a long
afternoon of it. Will you come with us?"

"Thank you, Ruthven," Frank said; "I should like it very much, but
you know I'm short of pocket money, and I can't pay my share of
the boat, so I would rather leave it alone."

"Oh, nonsense, Hargate!" Ruthven answered; "we know money is not
your strong point, but we really want you to go with us. You can
manage a boat better than any of us, and you will really oblige us
if you will go with us."

"Oh, if you put it in that way," Frank said, "I shall be glad to
go with you; but I do not think," he went on, looking at the sky,
"that the weather looks very settled. However, if you do not mind
the chance of a ducking, I don't."

"That's agreed then," Ruthven said; "will you meet us near the pier
at three o'clock?"

"All right. I'll be punctual."

At the appointed hour the four lads met on the beach. Ruthven and
his companions wanted to choose a light rowing boat, but Frank
strongly urged them to take a much larger and heavier one. "In the
first place," he said, "the wind is blowing off shore, and although
it's calm here it will be rougher farther out; and, unless I'm
mistaken, the wind is getting up fast. Besides this it will be much
more comfortable to fish from a good sized boat."