He Pointed It Out To The Other Boys, And, On Closer Examination, They Saw That It Was An Old Canoe, Of The Kind That Are Formed By Hollowing Out A Log. It Was Not Of Very Large Size And It Appeared To Be Rather Old And Decayed.

Still, the boys wanted to get it very much.

They gathered in their lines, and ran along the bank, keeping pace with the boat as it floated down.

[Illustration: BOAT ADRIFT.]

They very soon came to a reach of the river, - that is, to a length of it between one bend and another, where the water was swift and shallow. So the two boys who had been fishing with Marco threw off their shoes, and pulled up their trowsers, and ran down the bank, and into the river. The boat was far out in the stream, and they had to wade some distance before they came to it. Besides, as the boat was floating down all the time, while they were wading across, it got some distance down the stream before they could reach it. They, however, succeeded in getting it at last, and, with much floundering in the water and many shouts of laughter, they brought it over to Marco.

Marco was much pleased with the prize. It was in better condition than they had expected to find it. There was, indeed, a piece knocked out at one end, near the upper edge, but they found that it would support all three of the boys, if they sat in it carefully, and with their weight principally at the other end.

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