"Mischief!" echoed Bobolink, who was close by at the moment, and heard
what was being said; "say, that's too nice a word to use when talking
about the pranks of that combination. Ward, he supplies some of the
brains, and all of the hard plunks; while that bully, Ted Slavin, does
the work, or gets some of his cronies to do it for him. Now, I wonder if
they'll try to come aboard here, and play hob with our stuff, like they
did once before when we were all ready to hike off on a jaunt?"

"Don't bother yourself about that, Bobolink," said Paul, quietly. "I had
decided, even before I noticed Ward and Ted, that we must have a guard
stay on board all night. I'm going to see right now what fellows can be
spared. They can go home to supper, and some of us will wait for them to
come back."

"Let me be one, Paul; won't you?" pleaded Bobolink.

"But you are so quick to act, and it might bring on trouble," objected
the other.

"Oh! I'll promise to think five times before I act once; and besides,
there'll be some fellow along, like Jack here, who can keep me quiet. Of
course, though, if you believe I'm not fit to do the work, why--"

"That'll do for you, Bobolink," Paul broke in, "if your folks say you can
stay, come back ready to camp on board. I'll find you one or two
mates--four if possible--so you can sleep in relays of twos. And I'll
also try to fix up some dodge that will cool those fellows off, in case
they try to jump aboard between sunset and daylight."