A SUMMER VOYAGE 11 



"Let's leave our floats here, and ride with him 

 the rest of the way," said one to the other. 



"All right; may we, mister?" 



I assented, and we were soon afloat again. How 

 they enjoyed the passage; how smooth it was; how 

 the boat glided along; how quickly she felt the 

 paddle ! They admired her much ; they praised my 

 steersmanship ; they praised my fish-pole and all 

 my fixings down to my hateful rubber boots. When 

 we stuck on the rifts, as we did several times, they 

 leaped out quickly, with their bare feet and legs, 

 and pushed us off. 



" I think, " said Johnny, " if you keep her straight 

 and let her have her own way, she will find the 

 deepest water. Don't you, Denny 1 " 



"I think she will," replied Denny; and I found 

 the boys were pretty nearly right. 



I tried them on a point of natural history. I had 

 observed, coming along, a great many dead eels 

 lying on the bottom of the river, that I supposed 

 had died from spear wounds. "No," said Johnny, 

 "they are lamper-eels. They die as soon as they 

 have built their nests and laid their eggs." 



" Are you sure ? " 



"That 's what they all say, and I know they are 

 lampers. " 



So I fished one up out of the deep water with 

 my paddle-blade and examined it ; and sure enough 

 it was a lamprey. There was the row of holes 

 along its head, and its ugly suction mouth. I had 

 noticed their nests, too, all along, where the water 



