"Here, Zip! Ho, Zip! Come here!" called Russ, and he whistled to the dog, which was swimming along with the stick in his mouth.  
The dog heard, and, turning toward the shore of the lake, made his way to Russ, who was standing² on the little sandy beach. And, as Zip swam along, and pulled on the clothesline, which was fast to the stick in his mouth, and also fast to the raft on which stood Laddie Bunker, the little boy was given a ride.
 
Zip was a strong dog, and as the raft was light, and as Laddie was not heavy, the swimming animal had no trouble in pulling the queer³ boat after him.
 
"Oh, I'm having a fine ride!" shouted Laddie, as he stood in his bare feet on the raft, over which the water washed. "Come on, Russ! You can have a ride after I do."
 
"Will your raft hold me?" asked his brother.
 
"We can put some more boards on and make it," Laddie answered. "Oh, we'll have lots of fun!"
 
"Come on, Zip! Come on! That's a good dog!" called Russ, and the dog, which was used to swimming out into the lake and bringing back sticks that the children threw, swam on toward shore with the round piece of wood to which the clothesline was fastened still in his mouth. And of course as Zip pulled on the line he also pulled the raft along, and so gave Laddie a ride.
 
"Oh, it was lots of fun!" shouted the little boy, as the raft came into shallow water where it would no longer float. For Zip had reached shore by this time, and had dropped the stick at the feet of Russ. Then Zip stood there, wagging⁴ his tail, and shaking the water off his shaggy coat, waiting for Russ to toss⁵ the stick into the water again.
 
"Here you go, Zip! Bring it back!" cried Russ. "Bring the stick back again!" and, once more, he tossed⁶ it into the water.
 
"Don't you want him to give you a ride?" asked Laddie.
 
"Wait till we see if he gives you another one," suggested Russ.
 
And Zip did. Out he swam to where the piece of wood floated, still tied to the clothesline that was fast to the raft. And when Zip swam along, of course he pulled the raft after him.
 
"Oh, he does it! He does it again!" cried Laddie, capering⁷ up and down on the raft. "Now we'll make the boat bigger, Russ, and you can have a ride, and so can——"
 
But then, all of a sudden, something happened. Laddie was doing too much capering about on the raft. Before he knew it he stepped off with one foot, and, though he tried to get back on, he couldn't.
 
Off he fell, right into the water, splashing⁹ down with his clothes on. Zip pulled the raft along without the little boy on it.
 
"Hi! What are you doing?" asked Russ.
 
"I—I didn't mean to! I slipped off!" answered Laddie. "But the water isn't cold."
 
"You're all wet, though," Russ said. "Oh, you'll get it!"
 
"These are my old clothes," answered the smaller boy. "Mother said it wouldn't hurt to get 'em wet."
 
"Did she say you could fall in with 'em on?" asked Russ.
 
"No," answered Laddie slowly, "I didn't know I was going to fall in, so I couldn't ask her. But I'm glad I did, 'cause it feels so nice, and he kicked around in the water. The bottom being of clean sand, there was no mud, and, as Laddie had said, he wore old clothes."
 
"Say, Zip is a regular steamboat engine!" exclaimed Russ, as the dog kept on pulling the raft, though Laddie had fallen off. "We'll make it bigger, Laddie, and then I can ride on it."
 
"Maybe we both can," said Laddie, who got up out of the water, and waded¹⁰ to shore.
 
"No, I guess the two of us would be too heavy for Zip to pull. We'll take turns," said Russ. "Come on, we'll make a bigger raft. There's lots of wood out by the barn."
 
And so the boys did. Russ was stronger than Laddie, and could handle bigger boards and pieces of wood. Soon the raft was made big enough so that Russ could stand up on it and not have it sink to the bottom of the lake near the shore.
 
"Do you like it? asked Laddie.
 
"It's lots of fun," answered Russ. "I'm glad you thought of this."
 
"I was trying to think of a riddle¹¹," said Laddie. "It was something about what makes the lake wet when it rains, and then I saw some pieces of board floating along and I thought of a raft and I made one."
 
"And I'm glad you thought of it instead of the riddle," said Russ with a laugh. "You can't ride on a riddle."
 
"You could if a riddle was a train or a boat," Laddie said. "And I made up a riddle about the conductor punching the tickets and they didn't get mad. Don't you 'member?"
 
"Oh, yes, I remember," said Russ. "But come on, we'll have some more rides."
 
So the boys............