"Yes," said Thomas, getting up; "only in another part of the boat."

We gave up our seats to the ladies (even in a boat one should be
polite) and from a position in the stern waited with turned-up
coat-collars for the water to come on board.

"We might have sailed up a little higher," remarked Simpson. "It's
all right, I'm not a bit wet, thanks."

"It's too shallow, except at high tide," said Myra. "The Armadillo
would have gone aground and lost all her--her shell. Do armadilloes
have shells, or what?"

"Feathers."

"Well, we're a pretty good bank-holiday crowd for the dinghy," said
Archie. "Simpson, if we upset, save the milk and the sandwiches; my
wife can swim."

The woods were now beginning to come down to the river on both
sides, but on the right a grassy slope broke them at the water's
edge for some fifty yards. Thither we rowed, and after a little
complicated manoeuvring landed suddenly, Simpson, who was standing in
the bows with the boat-hook, being easily the first to reach the
shore. He got up quickly, however, apologized, and helped the ladies
and the hampers out. Thereafter he was busy for some time, making
the dinghy fast with a knot peculiarly his own.

"The first thing to do is to build a palisade to keep the savages