“No; cats drink very little water, and I do not feel the least bit thirsty now.”
Stubby succeeded in getting his drink and was safely back on board before any one appeared. But he did not have a minute to spare as his short, stubby tail only just disappeared out of sight when all the men, including the Captain, came on deck. Then the Captain bawled out in his big voice for them to heave in the gangplank and cut loose. In less than fifteen minutes the old boat was out in the middle of the river, floating down toward Paris on the swift moving current.
“Gee, it seems good to be in a safe place once more,” said Billy, “where one can sleep without keeping one eye open for fear of capture or of being blown sky high by a carelessly dropped German bomb. I am just going to sleep and sleep and sleep while on this trip and get good and rested.”
“And I am going to do the same,” replied Duke.
CHAPTER XII
BUTTON HAS A FIGHT WITH A WHARF RAT
ALL day long the four of them kept hidden. At noon Stubby, Duke and Button ate what the cats left, and Billy ran ashore and ate a little grass by the river bank, where the boat had tied up for noon.
The Captain and his crew seemed in no hurry to get to Paris or anywhere else, for that matter. All they seemed to do was to eat, sleep, tell stories and smoke.
It was getting to be about half past nine, and the dogs and Button were growing hungry for their supper which they could see on the plate by the gangway, but could not go to get it as the sailors were still lounging on deck talking and smoking.
“Will they never stop their silly talk and go to bed?” sighed Button.