"If you love me well, Brother Horace," said Fledra, "won't you believe that I'd do anything for Sister Ann and you?"
He nodded his head; but did not speak.
When he reached Ithaca, Lem Crabbe found a flood besieging the forest city. The creeks of Cascadilla and Six Mile Gorge had overflowed their banks, and the lower section of the town was under water. He had come back for the scow, and to find Scraggy. He was determined to force from her the whereabouts of his son. He wended his way toward the hut of one of his friends at the inlet, and hailed the boat that conveyed the squatters to and fro in flood-time. As the boat lapped the muddy water breaking into the weeds and brushes, Lem saw Eli Cronk perched in another boat, with a spear in his hand.
"Eli!" shouted Lem.
Eli greeted him with a wave of the pole.
The boats neared each other, and Lem shouted that he wanted to get into Cronk's craft.
"What ye doin'?" asked Crabbe, as the boat he had just left shot away toward the bridge.
"Catching frogs," replied Eli. "I sell a lot of 'em to the hotels, and this flood is jest the thing to make 'em thick." He lowered his spear and brought up a struggling frog. Throwing it into a covered box, he peered again into the water.
"Where's Lon?" he said, straightening again with another victim.