The Go Ahead Boys and the Racing Motorboat | Page 5

tell whether you reeled off your figures,
depending upon our ignorance or whether you gave them because you
knew what they are. How long is the Erie Canal?" he added slowly.
"Three hundred and fifty and one-half miles, though I find some
authorities give it as three hundred and fifty-two miles," laughed Grant.
"Splendid! Splendid!" retorted George solemnly. "I suppose you know
all about all the other great canals too."
"I have looked them up," replied Grant simply. "I don't believe in
starting off on a trip like ours without finding out some of the facts
connected with it."
"Don't ask me! Don't ask me!" protested John quickly. "I haven't been
looking them up, so I don't know."
"I didn't say I was going to ask you," retorted Grant. "I told you I was
going to inform you. I looked them up for the benefit of my benighted
companions. Now there's the Cape Cod Canal," he added. "I don't
believe there's one of you that knows anything about it."
"If we don't stop you, there won't be one of us that doesn't know ALL

about it," said John, pretending to be discouraged by the attitude of his
friend. "I suppose we'll have to have it," he added solemnly, "so the
sooner we get it out of the way the better. Tell us and have it over
with."
"The Cape Cod Canal," said Grant as he looked sternly at John, "is
eight miles long, it is twenty-five feet deep and one hundred feet wide."
"My, now I am almost ready to go back home!" said George solemnly.
"I cannot imagine finding out anything more important than that. Have
you noticed these Palisades we have been passing? Did you ever see
anything more beautiful than the river? Pretty soon we'll come to the
Highlands and to West Point and I want to say to you right now, Soc,
that I would rather know about these things than I would to hear about
a ditch that is one hundred feet wide and twenty-five feet deep and
eight miles long. What's the good of knowing that anyway?"
"I shall try to improve your mind before we come back home," said
Grant, shaking his head.
"You don't expect to accomplish much in just a month, do you?"
interposed George.
"Not much more than to get ready to prepare to begin to start to
commence on the contract."
"My, what a fluent talker my friend is!" said George. "He never is at a
loss for a word. It doesn't make any difference to him whether he
knows what it means or not."
"Never mind your old facts and figures," spoke up Fred. "I want you to
notice that big! black yacht yonder. Isn't she a beauty?"
"She is that," replied Grant with enthusiasm. "I can almost make out
her name," he added as he looked through the field-glasses. "There it is
C-a-l-e-Caledonia," he added quickly.
"They have got quite a good many people on board," suggested George

as he noticed a group of boys and girls near the rail, who apparently
were as deeply interested in the motor-boat as the Go Ahead boys were
in the big, black yacht.
"Let's have a race with her," suggested George. "Start her up, Fred, and
see if the yacht will try to keep up with us."
Fred laughingly complied with the request, although neither of his
companions had any suspicion of the many experiences they were to
have with the passengers and crew of the Caledonia before either vessel
returned to New York.
CHAPTER II
ON THE WAY
The proposed race, however, did not take place. The graceful Caledonia
steadily continued on her way without increasing her speed. There were
calls from the deck where the boys noticed several young people
standing near the rail. It was plain that there was great admiration on
each boat for the beauty and speed of the other. There were calls and
cheers, and waving of handkerchiefs to express their feelings. Perhaps
it was in part due to this fact that the Black Growler soon began to pull
away from the larger boat and not long afterward the Caledonia was
left far behind.
"That's the kind of a boat I'm going to have when I get rich!" said
George enthusiastically. "I should like to spend about four months a
year on board a craft like that."
"That's all right," spoke up Grant, "but I think after about two months
of it you would want something else. You see I know you better than
you know yourself."
"Yes, I see," retorted George sharply. "You make me think of what
Josh Billings said that 'it's a good deal better not to know so many
things than it is to know so many things that ain't so!' "

"Never