“I’ll tell you all that when I get out,” promised Ralph. “All you have to do is to spring back the bolt catch on the cover to the hold scuttle.”
“I’ll soon have you out then,” said Joe, and with alacrity he waded into the water, got aboard the old craft, and in another minute Ralph had lifted himself free of his prison place.
“Whew! what a relief,” aspirated the young fireman joyfully. “Joe, it is easy explaining how I came to be here—the natural sequence of events—but for you to be on hand to save me is marvelous.”
“I don’t see why,” said Joe. “I have been coming here for the last three days.”
“What for?” inquired Ralph.
“Business, strictly.”
“Mother told me you had taken the horse and 169 wagon and had gone off on a peddling trip,” said Ralph.
“Yes, I sold out a lot of cheap shoes to farmers which I got at a bargain at an auction,” explained Joe. “Then I struck a fine new scheme. It brought me here. I’ll explain to you later. Your story is the one that interests me. Tell me how you came to be in that scow, Ralph.”
The young fireman brought up the two satchels from the hold of the old craft, and briefly related to Joe the incidents of his experience with Farrington, Slump and the others.
“I say, you have done a big thing in getting those satchels,” said Joe, “and you want to place them in safe hands at once. Come ashore, and I’ll drive you to the nearest railroad town. You don’t want to risk meeting any of your enemies until you have those papers out of their reach.”