“Well, boys, I have no more to say; only take care of yourselves.”

With these words the doctor and Mr. Long bade them good by, and then walked away.

The other boys, however, stood on the wharf waiting to see the vessel off.  They themselves were all going to start for home in a few minutes, and were only waiting for the departure of the Antelope.

This could not now be long delayed.  The tide was high.  The wind fresh and fair.  The luggage, and provisions, and stores were all on board.  Captain Corbet was at the helm.  All was ready.  At length the word was given, the lines were cast off; and the Antelope moved slowly round, and left the wharf amid the cheers of the boys.  Farther and farther it moved away, then down the tortuous channel of Mud Creek, until at last the broad expanse of Minas Basin received them.

For this voyage the preparations had been complete.  It had first been thought of several weeks before, and then the plan and the details had been slowly elaborated.  It was thought to be an excellent idea, and one which was in every respect worthy of the “B.  O. W. C.”  Captain Corbet embraced the proposal with enthusiasm.  Letters home, requesting permission, received favorable answers.  Solomon at first resisted, but finally, on being solemnly appealed to as Grand Panjandrum, he found himself unable to withstand, and thus everything was gradually prepared.  Other details were satisfactorily arranged, though not without much serious and earnest debate.  The question of costume received very careful attention, and it was decided to adopt and wear the weather-beaten uniforms that had done service amidst mud and water on a former occasion.  Solomon’s presence was felt to be a security against any menacing famine; and that assurance was made doubly sure by the presence of a cooking stove, which Captain Corbet, mindful of former hardships, had thoughtfully procured and set up in the hold.  Finally, it was decided that the flag which had formerly flaunted the breeze should again wave over them; and so it was, that as the Antelope moved through Mud Creek, like a thing of life, the black flag of the “B.  O. W. C.” floated on high, with its blazonry of a skull, which now, worn by time, looked more than ever like the face of some mild, venerable, and paternal monitor.

Some time was taken up in arranging the hold.  Considerable confusion was manifest in that important locality.  Tin pans were intermingled with bedding, provisions with wearing apparel, books with knives and forks, while amid the scene the cooking stove towered aloft prominent.  To tell the truth, the scene was rather free and easy than elegant; nor could an unprejudiced observer have called it altogether comfortable.  In fact, to one who looked at it with a philosophic mind, an air of squalor might possibly have been detected.  Yet what of that?  The philosophic mind just alluded to would have overlooked