James Heitman looked at Eileen and winked.
“You just bet, old girl!” he said. “They ain’t any of them can beat you, not even Eileen at her best. Let’s get her out of here. Does this represent your luggage, girlie?”
“You said not to bother with anything else,” said Eileen.
“So I did,” said Uncle Jim, “and I meant just what I said if it’s all right with you. I suppose I did have, in the back of my head, an idea that there might be a trunk or a box—some things that belonged to your mother, mebby, and your ‘keepsakes.’”
“Oh, never mind,” interrupted Eileen. “Do let’s go. It’s nearly four o’clock. Any minute they may send for me from the bank, and I’d be more than glad to be out of the way.”
“Well, I’m not accustomed to being the porter, but if time’s that precious, here we go,” said Uncle Jim.
He picked up the suitcase with one hand and took his wife’s arm with the other.
“Scoot down there and climb into that boat,” he said proudly to Eileen. “We’ll have a good dinner in a private room when we get to the hotel. I won’t even register. And then we’ll get out of here when we have rested a little.”
“Can’t we stay all night and go in the morning?” panted his wife.
“No, ma’am, we can’t,” said James Heitman authoritatively. “We’ll eat a bite because we need to be fed up, and I sincerely hope they’s some decent grub to be had in this burg. The first place we come to outside of here, that looks like they had a decent bed, we’ll stop and make up for last night. But we ain’t a-goin’ to stay here if Eileen wants us to start right away, eh, Eileen?”