“Did you call me, mister?” inquired Andy.
“Yes, I did,” responded the man. “I was wondering what you were doing, lurking around here at this unearthly hour of the night.”
Andy mentally decided that it was quite as much a puzzle to him what the stranger was doing, sitting muffled up at two o’clock in the morning in this lonely place.
“I was looking for a boat to take me down stream,” explained Andy.
“Are you willing to work for a lift?” inquired the man.
“I should say so,” replied Andy emphatically.
“Do you know how to manage a craft like this one here?”
“Oh, that’s no trick at all,” said Andy. “The river is clear, and there’s nothing to run into, and all you have to do is to pole along in midstream.”
“Where do you want to get to?”
“The city.”