"Just in time, weren't we?" said Fred with a laugh. "You're
always right if you do what I tell you to. It was my suggestion
and I am glad that for once in your lives you had wisdom enough
to do what I said."
"That remains to be seen," said Grant dryly as he looked about
the room in which they found themselves. "It seems to me that the
motto over the door of this place ought to be, 'He who enters
here leaves soap behind.' "
"Where did you find that?" laughed George.
"Didn't you ever hear of the motto over the Bridge of Sighs?"
Whether the boys had ever heard of the famous bridge or not was
not manifest, for at that moment in the midst of a deafening peal
of thunder the landlady entered the room where the boys were
waiting.
"What can I do for you?" she inquired as the thunder ceased.
"We're caught in the storm and thought perhaps we might stay here
all night," suggested Fred.
"The house is pretty full," said the woman dubiously. "I don't
know whether I can give you rooms or not."
At that moment there came a burst of loud laughter from the
bar-room. It was plain that many of the men who were employed on
the canal also had sought shelter in the little tavern. The house
was old, so old that the boards in the floor were warped and the
low ceilings gave evidence of the many years that had passed
since they had been placed there.
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