"It wasn't very funny then, I assure you," Dick explained. "But perhaps the poor dogs needed the food more than I did."
By the time the dishes were washed, wiped, and put away, Dick and Nance were firm friends, and somewhat reluctantly they joined the others before the fire.
"May I have a look at your books, sir?" Dick asked, turning to Martin. "I've had my eyes upon them all the evening."
"Not upon the books alone, eh, pard?" Tom chuckled.
"Look at them to your heart's content," Martin replied. "My library is very small, and I am afraid you will find but little there to interest you."
Dick soon returned, bringing with him three small books.
"I've made a strike to-night," he exclaimed, "which is of more interest to me than the gold of the Quaska. Just think, here I have Hazlitt's 'Table Talk,' Emerson's 'Essays,' and Carlyle's 'Heroes and Hero Worship.' I didn't know that there were such books as these anywhere in this country," and he looked curiously toward Martin.
"You know them, then?" the latter queried, his interest now becoming much aroused in the young man.
"Know them! I should say I do. But it has been years since I read them, and of course I have forgotten much. It will all come back again, however, for one never really forgets. May I take Hazlitt with me to-morrow? It will be a great comfort, and I shall take good care of it."
"Ask Nance," Martin replied. "We are co-partners. You have my consent to take the book, but you must get hers as well."