“You came on us rather unexpectedly,” said young Smith.
“Yees did the same wid meself if you’ll allow to make the observation.”
“Another scrimmage?” inquired Napyank.
“Nothing hardly worth of mentioning. I undertook to crack the heads of a half-dozen I found slaping, and would have done it, if it hadn’t been for a thrifling thing.”
“And what was that?”
“They cracked mi own widout given me the chance to return the compliment.”
“You then took to the water?”
“I did not. I tuk to the woods, with the intention of coming back and given ’em a partin’ crack, when I cotched sight of this old barn floating down shtream.”
“Why didn’t you hail us?” inquired the hunter, with a peculiarly significant intonation.
“Arrah git out! din’t I try that last shpring, and you holding the guiding oar in your hand all these times, and knowin’ it was meself, and you bawling it was a decoy so as to keep me thramping till I had to shwim out to yees and haul meself on boord? Git out wid yer nonsense.”