Their reception by Mr. Bradford was exceedingly friendly—almost too much so, Benny thought, when the gentleman insisted on introducing them to his acquaintances, and telling the story of the rescue.
The dog was petted as perhaps he never had been before, which was pleasing to his master; but, as Benny afterward told Sam Hardy confidentially, there was no reason why he should be praised for what Fluff C. Foster had done.
Then the little party went to the tailor, who was ordered to make a uniform exactly like the one worn by Sam Hardy, and, in addition, a second suit of clothes was decided upon, so that the boy might have a proper outfit when the time came for him to go to school.
The surfman, No. 8, and Fluff dined with Mr. Bradford on this day, after which they were treated to a carriage ride, and so eager was the gentleman to give them pleasure that but for Sam Hardy’s persistency in setting out on the return voyage at an early hour, they might not have succeeded in regaining the station until late in the night.
“It has been what you might call a great day, No. 8,” the surfman said when they had bidden their entertainer adieu on the pier and the dory was out of the harbor. “I’m not certain but that two such outings as this would spoil you an’ Fluff C. Foster for work at the station.”
“We’ve had a good time, and Mr. Bradford has been very kind,” Benny said thoughtfully; “but I’m not so sure as I’d like to try it over again very soon.”
“Why not?”
“Because, in the first place, I don’t deserve it, even if Fluff does; and then again, it ain’t very nice to have folks praising you up when there’s no reason for it.”
“Then you don’t think Mr. Bradford had any right to lay it on quite so thick about what you’d done?”
“No, because it wasn’t altogether true. Any fellow who was all alone in this world with a dog like Fluff, would work mighty hard if folks gave him a home, same’s the crew have given me, so what I do don’t count. Now if Mr. Bradford had told the people we met how good you all were to take us, I’d had a much better time.”