"Well, it is pretty fair," Carrots replied, with the air of one who thinks it modest to belittle his own property. "We manage to get along here somehow, an' are goin' to squeeze you in. You're so thin, Ikey, that a sardine-box would make a first-rate bed for you."
"You're awful good to help me, fellers. Jest before Carrots came along I was tryin' to make out what I was goin' to do," said Ikey.
"Well, take hold, an' fill yourself up with what we've got here. P'rhaps we'll find some way to fix you so's you can walk better'n you do now," Teddy said, as he unrolled the packages of provisions Carrots had brought; but finding there was not sufficient for three very hungry boys, he excused himself long enough to purchase a few additions to the collection.
His sympathies were thoroughly roused, and he determined Ikey should have, as he afterward explained, "one square, out-and-out feed," if no more. Three smoked herring, three seed-cakes, and a five-cent pie comprised the list of provisions Teddy brought back. That he was guilty of extravagance in purchasing these articles shows how deeply he felt for Ikey's sufferings.
"This is what you call livin' high," Carrots said, as he arranged the feast in the most favorable light. "I reckon you'll get well if you stay here very long, Ikey."
"If I don't I ought ter be choked!" Master Cain replied emphatically, as he proceeded to devour one of the herring, first breaking off the head and stripping, with the touch of an artist, each side of the fish from the back-bone.
"There's one bad thing 'bout it," Carrots said, as he suddenly thought of what might be an awkward predicament for himself. "You know, the folks what keep the store don't have any idea I'm livin' here, 'cause if they did I'd be fired mighty quick. Of course you can't go 'round town while you've got that thing on your leg, an' you're bound to stay till it gets well; but, you see, Ikey, it won't do to make the least little mite of a noise. Do you think you can manage it all day, with never so much as a squeak?"
"I reckon it wouldn't be very hard work," Master Cain replied. "I'd be thinkin' how much better this was than loafin' 'round the streets, an' then I couldn't 'yip' if I wanted to, when I'd know I might lose the snap."
"And don't show your nose outside this box, 'cause that would be jest as bad as hollerin'."
"Don't you worry 'bout me! I'll get along all right, an' won't make any fuss for you," the invalid replied decidedly, as he made a pleasing combination of the dried fish and pie, by way of a finishing touch to the meal.