“Well?” asked that individual, a smile on his face. “What next?”
“First,” Clay said, “I want to thank you for saving me from that ruffian, and then I want you to sit down and wait until we get up the greatest dinner that ever was served on the Mississippi. I’m half starved, and I know that the boys are. Of course, if you want to land right now, we’ll put you ashore.”
“I reckon,” Red replied, with a slight tremble in his gruff voice, “that I can’t do better than to stick here for a time!”
“Well,” Clay went on, “the boys are wet and cold, as well as hungry, and so I’ll have to do the cooking. Will you come in the cabin and sit by me while I do it?”
“Will I? I’m lucky not to be out there on the shore with Sam!”
The two passed into the cabin, after the boys had put on dry clothes and warmed themselves at the coal stove, and Clay set about cooking a mammoth steak which had been bought at Cairo and kept in the tiny refrigerator. Then he boiled potatoes, and made light biscuit, and the coffee he produced was a hearty meal in itself! There were tinned beans, and sardines, and salmon, and many other things when the meal began, but when it was over the table was bare of everything in the provision line!
In the joy and comfort of being full-fed, Mose, Captain Joe, and Teddy rolled up in a common rug on the floor, in a corner where they would not be in the way, and went to sleep. Clay and Red went out on deck while the others washed the dishes.
“Are you thinking of sticking about this section all night?” asked the latter.
“Only for a short time,” Clay answered. “We’ll fix the motors, directly, and go on down the river. Why do you ask the question? Don’t you want to stay here?”
“I was thinking,” Red observed, quite coolly, “that, with the lights going, and the shore not far away, Sam might be thinking of taking a shot or two at the boys!”