Did you stop to talk with Friend Bill on the way, Lanky?" asked Frank.
"Who, me? Not so you could notice it. I told you I was going to dig out that hard nut all by myself. If Bill started to tell me his whole family history now, I'd shut up my ears and run off," declared the other.
"Honest, now, I believe he would," laughed Frank; "he's got the most stubborn nature ever. How'd you know but what we had quit the ice long ago, and gone ashore some distance down."
"By the marks of your skates," grinned Lanky.
"But then there are other fellows who might take a notion to skate up here and explore the headwaters of the noble Harrapin?" remarked Frank.
"They don't happen to strike out just as you do. Guess I've seen your private mark often enough to know it among ten thousand."
"I reckon you are not to be caught to-day, Lanky. See anything of the other Bill? Shall we call him a counterfeit because he's a bad Bill?" asked Ralph.
"No; I forgot all about him. Say, he might be somewhere around this country. It looks tough enough to give shelter to a fellow who wanted to hide. But I guess he wouldn't trouble us. We'd be poor picking for a thief; and it would give him away. What made you ask that, Ralph?" demanded the newcomer, looking curious.
