“How kind of the storm,” said Smithy; “it held off until we had run upon this haven of refuge. I hope now the owner will allow us to stay with him over night, for it would break my heart to have to step out of this comfortable place into the nasty wet.”
“Don’t worry, Smithy,” asserted Giraffe; “it’d have to be a charge of dynamite that’d hoist me out of this. Possession is nine points of the law, they say; and we’re here to stay, even if we have to pay three prices for accommodations. And I want to tell you that with that jolly fire so handy we’ll be silly to delay getting our own supper ready.”
“Don’t bother with what is on the stove,” warned Thad; “only shove it back, for when the owner of the boat does come home he’ll want it. Plenty of room for our purpose, isn’t there, boys?”
They assured him on this point, and then both Giraffe and Bumpus busied themselves. The contents of the various haversacks soon disclosed a quantity of eatables, and the cooking of supper was deemed a “snap” by those in charge, since they had the rare privilege of doing their work on a real stove, with plenty of wood handy.
Let the rain beat upon the roof overhead, until it made such a racket they had at times to fairly shout in order to be heard—who cared, with a cabin to shield them from the fury of the storm?
Thad hardly anticipated that the absent owner of the boat would return while the rain was coming down in such torrents, though if it relaxed its violence later on they might expect to see him. Some of the other boys did not have quite so much confidence, for whenever there was a sudden movement of the boat, as some gust of wind struck the upper end, the more nervous ones would hastily glance toward the door, as though half expecting to see it thrown open, and an angry boatman push in, demanding to know what they meant by taking possession during his absence.
But supper was cooked and placed upon the table without any interruption of this sort taking place. There was not room for them all to gather around the table; indeed, they filled the small cabin pretty well, eight of them in space that was really intended for two or three; but that did not interfere with everyone getting his share of food, though he had to sit cross-legged like a Turk on the floor to devour it.
All of them were in fairly high spirits now. The solving of the problem as to where they were to find shelter from the storm did considerable to lift them to this plane. Then again the enjoyment they found in satisfying their hunger with good things had its share, as well as the warmth of the cabin, which was certainly a feature worth considering.
Supper done, and still no let-up to the downfall of rain, which was beating the liveliest kind of a tattoo upon the roof. Thad was glad to discover no signs of a leak anywhere, which spoke well for the tidiness of the owner.
Giraffe, noticing how Thad looked up and around, must have guessed what the other was thinking about, to judge from the remark he made.