“No, sir,” said the boy, stoutly; “he isn’t. He’s my father’s horse! He was stolen, and I’m takin’ him back home.”
“Didn’t Captain Bill have him?”
“Yes, but he hadn’t any right to him, and he abused him, too.”
“Didn’t you take him without Captain Bill’s knowledge?”
“Of course I did! I couldn’t have got ’im at all if I hadn’t.”
“Well, I guess you’d better get off and let me take charge of the horse, and we’ll investigate this matter a little. Come,” he called, as Joe hesitated, “get down! Get down, I say!”
The boy let himself wearily to the ground.
Several men and boys who were standing near the offices and on the tow-path came crowding about.
“The superintendent is due here soon,” said the operator. “He’s coming up with the paymaster, and he’ll settle it.”
On the canal the superintendent’s authority was almost absolute. Local authorities deferred to him in all matters pertaining to the canal and its employes, unless the law were formally invoked.