“I dunno.”
“Martin, I believe your name was? Well, Martin, you have been part of an opportunity for your friend Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus Tidd. The point is—did he avail himself of it? I think! I consider him in the light of acquaintance, and I say to myself, ‘Zadok, a boy whose name is Marcus Aurelius would not neglect an opportunity.’ If you add the fact that Fortunatus also is part of his name the matter becomes certain. I am reassured—relieved, or made easy in my mind are simpler ways of stating it—Marcus has seized the opportunity. You will see.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he seemed to be all puffed up just like he’d done something wonderful. Mark might have seized an opportunity, but the way things sounded to me it was an opportunity to skedaddle with old Willis screeching after him. I figured it out he’d guess I got away all right and wasn’t likely to come back for more, so he and Sammy would take the boat and make for home down the river. The road ran right along the bank, so more than likely they’d be catching up with me before long.
“Martin,” says Biggs, “you ain’t what I’d call quick; no, not quick, so to speak. I’ll tell you what’s happened; what your friend Marcus Aurelius has done. He’s got the engine, that’s what, and he’s gettin’ away with it this very minute, this identical second.”
I saw it all right then, and without so much as saying good-by to Zadok Biggs I went pelting up the road toward the farm. I’d wasted as much as five minutes fussing with the old peddler just when I was being needed, but I ran to make up for it. As I turned the last bend I saw old Willis jumping up and down on the bank, shouting at Batten and Bill, who were leaping down the steps, and a few feet away from the dock was the boat with Mark Tidd and Sammy and the engine in it.
I was most out of breath, but I kept on. When I got pretty close to the cut I jumped over the bank, and, forgetting all about snakes and mud and everything, I wallowed right into the marsh, at the same time bellowing as loud as I could to Mark. The mud wasn’t as deep as we’d figured, probably on account of the dirt dredged out of the cut, and I went faster than Sammy could row the boat. I caught them just at the end of the cut and jumped in ker-bang! And there I was.
CHAPTER XV
I have to tell you from hearsay what happened to Mark Tidd and Sammy while I was being chased. I’ve heard it all so many times I can see it, and if I’m not careful to remember I almost get to believing I was there and taking part in the things that happened.
When I left Mark and Sammy to go around and shoot pebbles at the bell they crept up to the fence on the east side of the house and, Mark says, waited for an opportunity to come along. They heard me whang the bell a couple of times, and then the racket that started when Batten and Bill began chasing me.
“Sammy,” says Mark, “run quick and see what’s the matter.”