“Nay; I don’t want no boys along o’ me.”
“Oh yes, you do,” said Vince. “I say—do take us, and we’ll row all the time.”
“I don’t want no one to row me. I’ve got my sail.”
“All right, then; we’ll manage the sail, and you can steer.”
“Nay; I don’t want to be capsized.”
“Who’s going to capsize you? I say, do take us.”
The man scowled at them both, and filed his sharp, aquiline nose with a rough finger as if hesitating; then, swinging himself round, he strode off in his great boots, which crushed down heather and furze like a pair of mine stamps. But he uttered the words which sent a thrill through the boys’ hearts—and those words were:
“Come on!”