Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/347

 against the stern locker and panted loudly; but he was as full of determination as ever.

"Now go up and sink the canoe," he almost gasped.

But a single glance was enough to show Arthur and Roy that it was too late to do any thing with the canoe. Jake and his brother heard the order that Joe shouted at his friends while he was in the water, and made all haste to put themselves out of harm's way. When Joe was hauled into the skiff they were so close to the shore that all attempts to intercept them would have been unavailing.

"It's no use, Joe," said Arthur. "They're too far off, and there's Matt Coyle standing on the bank."

"But for Joe's sake we will see what we can do," exclaimed Roy.

As he spoke, he opened the forward locker and took from it a stout paper bag. When he first put it there, Arthur and Joe supposed that it contained lemons; but when Roy opened it, they saw that it was filled with potatoes.

"They helped us out of a scrape once, and why shouldn't they do so again?" said Roy.