The boy answered only by a weary smile, and Mose stood staring at him with widening eyes, while Captain Joe sniffed suspiciously at his worn garments. Teddy invited him to a boxing match!
“I’ll go you boys a dollar to an apple,” Case observed, “that this kid is still empty! He looks it! Anyway, I’ll go and get him something to eat!”
“And don’t forget the heroic rescuers!” Alex. called out. “I haven’t had a thing to eat since supper! Say, kid,” he went on, “what’s your name?”
“Chester Vinton,” was the reply, in a frightened voice. “I’m running away.”
“You wasn’t running very fast when we found you!” commented Alex. “How did you come to mix with those wreckers?”
“I was on a raft,” was the answer, “and I was hungry, and I saw them on the island, and asked them for something to eat. They tied me up!”
“Why didn’t you stay on board the boat at Cairo?” asked Clay.
“I was afraid,” was the reply.
“Red is back up the river looking for you,” Jule observed, still shivering from his exposure to the cold water. “He took passage with us part of the way down.”
“I should think he did!” chuckled Alex. “And he was a first cabin passenger at that!”