Now, when Sweetclover heard the villainous puppet speak, she moved away from him but Kernel Cob, who always welcomed a new adventure and saw in this fellow a possible enemy, spoke up:
"Who and what are you?"
"A friend," answered the Villain.
"You don't look it," said Sweetclover, "you look more like a villain."
"And so I am," said he. "At least that's what I'm painted to be, but I have a kind heart just the same."
"What are you doing out here in this boat?" asked Kernel Cob.
"The man who is rowing and who picked you up is a puppet showman," he explained.
"I don't like him a bit," said Sweetclover.
"You'll like him less and less as you get to know him," said the Villain. "He's very brutal. That's why we are in the boat, for yesterday during the puppet show, he broke the Hero in a rage and he had to go across the harbor to a toy-shop to buy another. That's the new Hero alongside of me."
"He's very handsome," said Sweetclover.