“But how are we ever going to get out there and dig a grave?” asked Jule, who was not inclined to waste much effort on the body of a man who, in life, would have robbed, perhaps murdered, them!
“With your permission,” Gregg said, “we’ll take the body out and bury it. I haven’t much use for men of his type, but he’s dead, and that settles all accounts!”
“We may be able to get a couple of birds for supper while we are away,” suggested Eddie Butler. “We have been so busy lately, that we haven’t eaten, or provided anything to eat! I’m empty clear to my toes!”
“And I’ll catch a fish off the boat!” Jule volunteered. “I saw some big ones jumping up not long ago! They’ve been driven out of their nests by the flood.”
So Gregg and his friends went away in the rowboat to bury the outlaw and get a couple of ducks for supper, while Jule and Alex. angled over the stern of the boat for a fish. The first rush of the flood was past, but the water was still high. There was a strong current rushing past the stern of the Rambler, and this indicated that there must be a channel open to the main river not far below.
The boys caught a great catfish and two awkward-looking buffalo-fish and turned them loose in the stream before they succeeded in getting anything they wanted for supper. Then they caught a dozen perch of good size and proceeded to clean them.
By the time the fish were ready for the pan Gregg and his friends were back from their expedition with half a dozen fat ducks, already dressed.
“We’ll have some for breakfast, and some for dinner!” Eddie declared. “I feel now as if I’d never get enough to fill me up again!”
Something long and twisting dropped on the man’s shoulders and fell off to the deck.
“Holy smoke!” he shouted. “Look at the snake!”