"Hold on!" Alex cried. "Come down from the stars if you want to talk to us."
"Well," Clay went on, "every person we have met at our stopping-places has been seen or heard of at the next stopping-place. We meet a disguised man on the street at Montreal. We come to a campfire by the riverside, miles above the city, to learn why he was disguised, and why he was following us. As we have said several times lately, this is a pretty small world. The man you meet to-day may walk in your path forever!"
The boys were astir early in the morning. They cooked breakfast on the shore, watched by inquisitive boys and girls, and then proceeded upstream. They passed beautiful Lake St. Frances long before noon, and just as night fell tied up at a lower pier at Ogdensburg. As soon as supper had been eaten, Alex and Captain Joe started away together.
"Here, where are you boys going?" asked Clay. "I say boys because Captain Joe has more sense than Alex," he added, turning to the others. "At least Captain Joe doesn't get lost very often."
"Right over here on the river front," Alex replied, "is where the Rutland Transit Company boats dock. Those boats are fresh from Chicago, and I'm going over to see if I can get a drink of Lake Michigan water!"
"If you go over there with that dog," Case declared, "the sailors will steal him. That dog is about as well known in Chicago as Carter H. Harrison. He's had his picture in every one of the Chicago newspapers."
"All right," replied Alex. "If they catch him and take him back to Chicago, they'll have to take me with him."
The boy took his departure, accompanied by the dog, and the others sat down to a quiet evening in the cabin. They had had several pleasant days and many thrilling adventures on the St. Lawrence river.
There remained now only about a hundred miles of travel, Lake Ontario being only that distance away. But included in that hundred miles were all the beautiful islands, great and small, which have made the St. Lawrence river famous.
The pleasantest part of their trip was yet to come.
While the boys lay in the cabin, with the lights all out as usual, a heavy step sounded on the deck, and there came a sharp rap at the cabin door. The boys sprang out of their bunks instantly.