"I know her," he said with a chuckle; "cranky as a bath-tub! You couldn't go up the lake in her!"
"Not while it blows like this," said Garth.
"Then I hope it hits it up for a week!" said Charley, apparently addressing the hem of Natalie's skirt.
"I was told one Wall-eye Macgregor had a strong boat," Garth said.
"Nothing doing!" returned the boy. "He's got it up at the head of the lake."
"Then I must try to strengthen the bath-tub and coast around the shore," said Garth.
"I'll help you!" said Charley. "We'll pitch in first thing to-morrow."
"How long have you been in the country, Mr. Landrum?" asked Natalie softly.
The boy blushed for pure pleasure; and his voice deepened as he replied: "Two years next March, Miss. I came in over the ice with a freighter. I ran away from school. What was the use?—I got a head like a hickory nut; and I couldn't keep out of trouble. They gave me a bad name; and everything that happened was put on me. So I cleared out and came North."
Gradually the whole naïve, boyish tale came out.