m, where he found his three young companio

e you're poring over some old book, as usual

ntyre looking up, his ey

d Jesse Wilcox. "Look it! He's got a notion he

e been in our work-running preliminary surveys! He just naturally knew the way across country, and he just naturally knew how to set it down. On hide

d Rob, "which was the greater o

dhead; Lewis the dark and sober man. Clark was the engineer; Lewis the leader of men. Clark had the business man in

e!" assented John.

!" added Jesse, loo

a country!" His un

of a couple of thousand miles this summer, up the little old Missouri to th

e can't!"

said John, who caught a t

!" said Rob, also

the acting commanding officer. She says that on the whole

ut of school-even though poor Will Clark hadn't learned much about s

scamp it," said thor

nt to motor it,"

est of the three. "We can go by power boat, most way, anyh

le Dick, and again:

u think this particular family,

esse, sagely; "twenty feet long and narrow bottomed, b

le Dick. "Do you think we can row to the hea

tor," said J

could stem the June

e, never smiling. "Besides, a head sail when the wind is right behind. And a rope if

," said John. "Lots of

king a model of a new flying ship now, though i

to the oldest of the three, and the

answer, sir," said Rob. "How m

teen or twenty-the average was about nine miles a day. It took them all summer and fal

ust about nine miles a day, start to finish of that part of the run, here to the Ma

average I'll eat the bo

blem, "let's see. A good kicker might do two or three miles an hour, by picking out the water.

we can't figure on top notch all the way. We've got to include bad days, break-downs, accidents, delays

ion, you know. Some days we might travel twelve hours, if we'd nothing else to do. And I do

your teacher, here in St. Louis, where we're all going to winter this year, and arrange with him to let you study outside

r best, if only they could be allowed to make this wonderful

be arranged,"

ged!" said Rob. "You've spok

m, too. But it's all on condition that you come back also with a k

Jesse began to drop their books and eagerly c

ked John. "We can't live on t

me, say. The little tent, with a wall, and the po

quito tent?"

orth. Some mosquitoes, but not so many for us old-timers

nd an eiderdown quilt

Lewis and Clark

ey had buff

loft here, and-well, I bought them. He'd forgotten he had them-forty years and more. A blanke

go over all

That's about all. Two trout rods, for the mountains. One shotgun for luck, and one .22 rifle-n

f course, we take our maps and

a copy of the or

we are?" sid John. "That is,"

ce of a country so changed. And we'll try to put in all the things they saw, t

ick noted with a grim smile the full, snappy, military salute of the American Army