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The Moral Pirates.
113

that stood near the water. "They must be behind that barn," said Tom. "Why, the mosquitoes will eat 'em alive! I'll take their clothes to them right away." So saying, Tom gathered up the shirts, trousers, and hats of the two unhappy divers, and ran with them to their owners. He found Harry and Joe crouched behind the barn, chattering with cold and surrounded by clouds of eager mosquitoes. "We've been here half an hour," cried Joe, "and the mosquitoes would have finished us in another half-hour. I think my right leg is nearly gone already."

"And I know I must have lost a gallon of blood," said Harry.

"But why on earth did you come here?' asked Tom.

"Because the canal is just lined with women and girls," replied Joe. "They think it's a circus; but I'm not going to do circus-acting without tights."

The boys hurriedly dressed themselves, and returning to the boat helped to put it on the wagon;