“Come, get a move on, here!” cried Ben, giving DuBois a seat on a blanket by the fire. “My friend is hungry and wants a few dozen eggs and about a quart of coffee!”
As Ben spoke he lifted the hand-bag from the place where it had fallen and started toward the tent with it.
“Here, you cawn’t take that away, don’t you know,” DuBois exclaimed. “That’s me luggage!”
“All right, wear it for a watch-charm if you want to,” Ben declared, throwing the hand-bag down by the Englishman’s side.
In the meantime Jimmie and Carl busied themselves preparing a meal for the wanderer. When it was quite ready he insisted on going to the stream which ran through the valley not far away and bathing his hands and face in the clear water. When he returned he took the key to the hand-bag from his pocket and threw back the bolt.
“There’s a bawth towel in here,” he said in a moment, “and I’ll be obliged to use it until I get to me boxes, don’t ye know! Do you think,” he went on with a wistful look, “that we’ll soon come to a place where I can get me morning tub?”
“You can get a tub in the brook!” laughed Jimmie. “There’s plenty of rattlesnakes and lizards along the edges of the stream, but after you get out into the middle you won’t find anything more dangerous than alligators!”
“Don’t ye know,” grinned the Englishman, “I think you’re spoofing me!”
“He’s great fun, ain’t he?” whispered Jimmie, as DuBois shot back the bolt and opened his hand-bag. He took out first a comb, a brush, and a hand mirror. Then followed a bath towel of goodly size.
“And me ’andkerchiefs,” mused the Englishman. “I don’t see anything of the blawsted ’andkerchiefs!”