"Here's the stuff from the store, mom!" exclaimed Fenn, as he rushed into the house.
"What's the matter?" asked his mother anxiously. "Has there been an accident, Fenn?"
"Got to find the boys! Captain Wiggs! _Modoc!_ Going on a cruise! Tell you later!" was what Fenn exclaimed in jerky sentences as he hurried down the side steps and out of the yard.
"Oh, those boys! They get so excited you can't do anything with them!" exclaimed Mrs. Masterson. "I wonder what they're up to now?"
If she could have seen her son and his chums, whom he met on the street, soon after his hurried exit, she would have been more puzzled than ever.
"Great news! Great!" yelled Fenn, as he caught sight of Frank, Ned and Bart approaching him. "We're going with Captain Wiggs to make a tour of the Great Lakes! Whoop! Hold me down, somebody!"
He grabbed Ned and Bart, each by an arm, and began whirling them around in a good imitation of an Indian war dance.
"Here! Let up!" cried Frank. "What's it all about? Who's killed?"
"Nobody, you ninny!" shouted Fenn. "We're going on the _Modoc_!"
All Fenn could do was to nod his head vigorously. He was all out of breath. As soon as he could get enough wind to talk, he rapidly explained what Captain Wiggs had said.
"Does he mean we're to work our passage?" asked Frank. "I don't know as I care to shovel coal, if that's what he means."
"I guess he was only joking about that part of it," answered Fenn. "I'm going, if I have to scrub the decks. It will be sport."
"That's right," chimed in Bart. "I don't mind working my way for the sake of the trip. When can we go?"
"Let's go down to the wharf and have a talk with him," suggested Ned, and they all agreed this was a wise idea.
A little later they were in the large cabin of the _Modoc_, which, for a freight boat, was well fitted up.
Captain Wiggs repeated the invitation he had given to Fenn. The boys would be welcome to make the trip with him, he said, as long as their parents consented. They would need an outfit of clothing, with rough garments for stormy weather, which might be encountered.
"And we'll do anything we can to help you run the boat," added Bart, who felt that some return ought to be given for the captain's generosity.