"The first thing you know
we'll be in the canal."
"I hope not," laughed Grant. "It will be a great day when the Go
Ahead boys learn how to use the English language. You don't mean
'in' the canal, you mean 'on' the canal."
"Perhaps he means what my grandfather used to call the 'ragin'
canawl'," suggested Grant.
"Maybe we'll be both IN it and ON it," laughed Fred. "If we
should happen to strike a rock or bump into another boat it
wouldn't be very hard to understand what would follow."
"That makes me think," said Grant solemnly. "Are you sure that
you know how to steer? If we were traveling on the Erie Canal as
they used to go soon after it was opened--"
"When was that?" broke in George.
"1825. The Erie Canal extended from Albany to Lake Erie and was
constructed chiefly because DeWitt Clinton worked for it with
might and main from 1817 to 1825."
"Good for you!" laughed George, "It's pretty hard to trip up old
Soc when it comes to figures. Now, I myself happen to know how
long the canal is and so I shall be able to tell whether you
reeled off your figures, depending upon our ignorance or whether
you gave them because you knew what they are. How long is the
Erie Canal?" he added slowly.
"Three hundred and fifty and one-half miles, though I find some
authorities give it as three hundred and fifty-two miles,"
laughed Grant.
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