Each boat landed its crew at a convenient place, and they were then marshaled into a procession.  They were formed in sections of four, each crew preceded by its coxswain, with one of the flags on each side of him.  The commodore marched at the head of the company, and in this order they proceeded through the principal street of the village.  Of course their appearance excited a great deal of wonder, and not a little admiration.  Several of the principal citizens, unwilling that their guests should depart unwelcomed, got up an impromptu reception, and the clubs were invited to the Town Hall, where some very pretty speeches were made by the chairman of the Selectmen, of the School Committee, the representative to the General Court, and other distinguished individuals; to whom the commodore replied with a great deal of dignity and self-possession.

While the speeches were proceeding, the ladies were not idle; and the boys were next invited to a collation on the green; after which they marched back to the river and re-embarked.  Three times three cheers were given for the people of Oaklawn, and the word was given to pull for home.

The boys of the village were not so ready to part with them, and some twenty of them followed the boats, on the bank of the river.

“I say, Frank, these folks were very kind to us,” Charles remarked.

“They were, indeed.”

“And the boys seem to enjoy it.”

“I suppose not many of them ever saw our boats before.”

“Suppose we take them in; they will be very willing to walk home, say from the grove where we dined, for the sake of the sail.”

“Good!  I didn’t think of that before.  Up with the orange!”

The boats landed, and the astonished Oaklawn boys were distributed among them.  They seemed to regard the favor as an unexpected condescension, and their delight knew no bounds.  As Little Paul expressed it, “they were tickled half to death”; and when they reached the grove it was a sad and bitter disappointment for them to get out and go home.

“I was thinking of something,” said Charles, a little while after they had landed their passengers.

“What was it, Charley?” replied the commodore.

“That we might invite the boys of Oaklawn to spend a day with us on the lake.”

“Capital!”

“We could give them a picnic on Center Island.”

“We will do it; and now that we know the river we can easily come up as far as the grove after them.”

“Or up to the rapids; there is no danger this side of them.”

This plan was discussed in all its details, and everything was agreed upon by the time they reached the lake.  The passage down the river had been much quicker than the upward trip, and before sunset the boats were all housed, and the clubs had separated.

On the following week the courtesies of the club were extended to the boys of Oaklawn, as arranged by the commodore, and a very fine time they had of it.  Their guests, numbering over forty, were entertained in every conceivable manner—­the day’s sports concluding with a grand race, in which all the boats were entered, and in which the Butterfly won the honors.