Page:Boys of Columbia High on the River.djvu/102

92 "Think I'm a sack of meal, do you?" he said, defiantly; "well, I ain't, all the same. Course I understand the responsibility of the job. There don't nothing happen while I'm on duty without my knowing it. Lie down and take your forty winks. Got that clock set for two hours again, Buster?"

"Sure. And don't forget to keep away from the middle, or souse you go. It's some wet down below, Bones, though so thin a feller as you wouldn't make much of a splash, I reckon. None of your chaff, now. Let me improve the golden opportunity and snooze."

Buster remembered nothing after that. He was very sleepy, and the accumulated burlap made a pretty comfortable bed for a boy who was not overly particular.

With all his boasting Bones Shadduck was the poorest guard Buster could have selected to keep him company on this night when so much depended on watchfulness. He bravely kept his eyes open for half an hour. Nothing happening in that time, Bones found himself growing more and more lax in his wakefulness.

Finally he hunted out a soft spot to sit down, and sank upon it with a sigh of relief. Just then he believed that both he and Buster were fools to imagine that any harm could come to the precious boats. Why, who was there to injure the cedar craft? Lef