"That doesn't go. I was up all night long," spoke up Fred. "I
didn't sleep any last night."

"I noticed that," said Grant. "The sound that came from your room
showed very plainly that you were not sleeping and yet I cannot
understand why a fellow should make all those noises if he is
wide awake."

"It was John you heard," retorted Fred.

"Yes, I heard John too," said Grant. "It was a duet most of the
time. Now aren't you glad," he added, "that I told you how wide
the Erie Canal is? You see there was plenty of room for the
Caledonia to pass us and take us in tow."

"How wide is the Erie Canal?" spoke up George. "I don't believe
you can remember it now yourself. You haven't your notes with
you. None of that," he added quickly as Grant felt in his pocket
for a paper. "Tell me on your word of honor how wide the Erie
Canal is."

"Seventy feet wide on the surface and fifty-six feet wide at the
bottom," said Grant promptly.

"I suppose we'll have to take your word for it," said George as
his friends laughed at his discomfiture. "We can't dispute you
and even if you don't know anything about it you tell it as if
you believed it to be the most solemn truth in the world."

"It's true, just as I'm telling you," said Grant.