No, sir! We're teachin' him to paddle his own canoe." Not finding the sympathetic response he looked for in the Right Bower's face, he turned to the Left.
"I reckon we were teachin' him our canoe was too full," was the Left Bower's unexpected reply.

"That's about the size of it." The Right Bower shot a rapid glance under his brows at his brother.
The latter, with his hands in his pockets, stared unconsciously at the rushing waters, and then quietly turned away.

The Right Bower followed him.

"Are you goin' back on us ?" he asked.
"Are you ?" responded the other.
"No!" "NO, then it is," returned the Left Bower quietly.

The elder brother hesitated in half-angry embarrassment.
"Then what did you mean by saying we reckoned our canoe was too full ?" "Wasn't that our idea ?" returned the Left Bower, indifferently.
Confounded by this practical expression of his own unformulated good intentions, the Right Bower was staggered.
"Speakin' of the Old Man," broke in the Judge, with characteristic infelicity, "I reckon he'll sort o' miss us, times like these.