“Lie down, dog!” Jule whispered.
Then Captain Joe recognized the voice and gave forth a low whine of recognition and reproach—recognition in spite of the sulphur, and reproach because of his having been left there alone while the others took an outing in the forest!
Jule finally managed to unfasten the window and crawl into the cabin. Captain Joe gave him an appropriate reception, and then sat down to look from the boy to the door, and back and forth, until his eyes and the motions of his head seemed to say:
“Well, why don’t you hurry up and let me out?”
“All right, old chap!” Jule answered the look. “I’ll let you out just as soon as it is safe for you to go.”
Captain Joe insisted that he wanted to go at once, in order that he might see what was going on outside, but Jule consoled him with a caress and stood waiting for Case and Frank to make their appearance. Before long a commotion in the water back of the boat told of the approach of someone.
Jule crept back to the platform and waited, thinking that Frank might need assistance in getting out of the water. When he turned to look back he saw that Captain Joe had followed him to the window and was now trying his best to follow his example and get through. However, he seemed to have stuck in the narrow opening, not knowing how to bring his hind legs up to the sill.
The dog whined a warning and Jule turned back to the dark pool of river at the stern. A head lifted darkly from the surface and a face masked by heavy whiskers and seen only in outline regarded the boy blankly. The attacking party, it seemed, had adopted the same tactics to get into the boat as had the boy.
“Come off there!” commanded the gruff voice of the fellow, as he took hold of the boat “Come off or I’ll be the death of you!”
“What do you want here?” demanded Jule.