"So do I, my lad. The lakes are wonderful bodies of water."
"But hadn't you better go home?" suggested Nat. "You're wet, and, though it's a warm night, you may take cold. It's going to rain," he added, as a flash of lightning came.
"Yes, I will go home if you will help me."
"I will, gladly. Where do you live?"
"I board near here, as it's handy for my business. The Jessie Drew is to sail day after to-morrow. I came down here to-night to see a friend of mine, who is captain of one of these grain barges, the second one over there. I didn't know that he and his crew, as well as all those on this barge we're on, had gone ashore. I started to cross from one barge to the other, and I fell down between them. I called and called, but it seemed as if help would never come."
"I'm glad I happened to be passing," replied Nat. "Now, if you feel able, we'll go ashore."
"Yes, I'm all right now. I'll go to my boarding place and get some dry things. Do you work around here?"
"I help Mr. Miller—he's the man I live with—whenever I can. He's working to-night, helping unload a vessel that was delayed by the storm."
"Yes, it's blowing quite hard. I didn't notice it so much down between those barges, but now I feel quite chilly. So you work on the pier, eh?"
"Whenever I can get anything to do. But I'd like to get a job on a steamer."