“Sho! that’s too bad. How’ll we fix it? You might find a chance to get back real late. There are lots of boats that get loaded up and start off through the night so as to get the loads in for the hucksters by sun-up or earlier; but it seems to me as long as you’ll be really down there you might as well try pickin’. I’d give you a job myself, but I don’t have any crop. I keep a store at the Cross Roads. Let me see. How’ll we fix it?” And the man rubbed his stubby beard thoughtfully.
Presently he slapped Benny on the shoulder, as a bright idea came to him. “I know!” he exclaimed; “we’ll drive ’round by Sanders’s. He’s got a telephone, and I’ll ask him to telephone up to Dick Bond’s, at the railroad station, then Dick can telegraph to your mother that you’re all right, and that she’ll hear from you later. How’ll that do?”
Benny’s face beamed. “Fine,” he responded, gratefully, although he was but half aware of the trouble and expense to which the kind man was placing himself on the little boy’s account.
“All right. It’s a go. My name is Welch. I’ll take you home with me. We’ll find a corner for you somewhere, and to-morrow you can go to see Jim Bentley. Like as not Jim’ll be over himself in the morning. So just make yourself easy.”
It was evident that Benny’s honest little face had taken the man’s fancy, and for the rest of the trip the boy was treated as a guest by Mr. Welch.
The small steamboat was pushing its way along steadily by this time, and Benny gave himself up to the enjoyment of the occasion. Far off a broad expanse of blue water, dotted with white sails, touched the horizon; on each side could be seen banks of vivid green; an old half-ruined fort loomed up before them. Benny could see through the open gateway flowers blooming in the inclosure; a big dog lay sleeping upon a strong parapet. So peaceful and quiet did the fort look that one could scarcely imagine that there had been a time when threatening cannon pointed from those walls and that armed men stood behind the strong embrasure.
Just beyond the fort the “Emma Jones” turned into a broad creek, along the shores of which were little landings where sailboats and rowboats were moored. The tall trees were reflected in the placid waters, and Benny caught sight of pink flowers dotting the green of the woods. It seemed a perfect paradise to him. Oh, how Kitty would like to see it! His mother had told him of just such places, but he had not half realized how beautiful they could be.
Every now and then the boat stopped to let off passengers and freight till at the head of the creek the last landing was made, and Benny followed his good friend ashore.
A motley collection of vehicles awaited the arrival of the steamer. Here was a spring wagon drawn by a mule; there a substantial looking Dayton; soberly standing under a tree were two oxen harnessed to a small cart painted bright blue. An old colored woman in a purple sunbonnet drove the oxen.
Into a big wagon Mr. Welch packed various barrels and bundles, and Benny soon found himself placed between an old colored man and Mr. Welch, while the horses trotted briskly along the white-shelled road.