“Begone, ye brutes!” he shouted, throwing his club into the midst of the pack, which scattered right and left, and concealed themselves in the bushes. “Come on, strangers, whoever ye be, they won’t pester ye. Some more of the Kendall’s passengers, I reckon, aint ye?” he added, when the boys came up. “I reckoned so, ’kase one on ye haint got no coat on.”
“Yes, we were on the Kendall when she was burned. Have you seen any of the passengers or crew?” asked George, hoping that, if he had, Mr. Black and Mr. Scanlan might be among the number.
“Yes, I picked up one, an’ I might have saved more if I had only had a boat. I used to be a right peart swimmer in my young days, but the rheumatiz an’ ager pester me so bad that I can’t go into the water no more. Howsomever, when I stood thar on the bank an’ heard somebody a callin’, I jest jumped in and jerked him out.”
“I am glad you were able to do that much,” said Bob, when the old man paused, as if to give the boys an opportunity to say something in praise of the deed he had performed.
“I shan’t be able to walk ag’in fur a month, I know,” continued the man. “He’s in the house now, takin’ a wink of sleep, an’ restin’ while his clothes is dryin’.”
“What sort of a looking man is he?” asked George.
“O, he’s a chunky, good-lookin’, gray-whiskered an’ gray-headed——”
“That’s enough,” said George, with a deep sigh of regret. “It isn’t either of my friends, for they are not gray-headed. May we go in and sit by your fire?”
“Yer as welcome as the flowers in May. Sorry I haint got a bed to offer ye, but that fellar’s got the only one I own.”
“We are greatly obliged to you, but we don’t want a bed. We only want to stay long enough to get dry and warm, and then we’ll strike out. I am anxious to find my partners. How far is White River Landing from here by the road—if there is one?”