“Ten years,—ten thousand years, I could almost swear, only for keeping the record so carefully, so religiously. And—pitiful Lord! How gladly would I have given my good right arm, just for one faraway glimpse of civilisation! How often—but I am wearying you, gentlemen, and you may—pray don't think that I am crazy; you will not?”
Both the professor and Bruno assured him to the contrary, but Waldo was less affected, and his curiosity could no longer be kept within bounds. Gently tapping one hairy arm, he spoke:
“I say, friend, what were you doing out yonder in the big suck? Didn't you know the fun was hardly equal to the risk, sir?”
“Easy, lad,” reproved the professor; but with a a smile, which strangely softened that haggard, weather-worn visage, the stranger spoke:
“Nay, kind sir, do not check the young gentleman. If you could only realise how sweet it is to my poor ears,—the sound of a friendly voice! For so many weary years I have never heard one word from human lips which I could understand or make answer to. And now,—what is it you wish to know, my dear boy?”
“Well, since you've lived here so long, surely you hadn't ought to get caught in such a nasty pickle; unless it was through accident?”
“It was partly accidental. One that would have cost me dearly had not you come to my aid so opportunely. And yet,—only for one thing, I could scarcely have regretted vanishing for ever down that suck!”
His voice choked, his head bowed, his hands came together in a nervous grip, all betokening unusual agitation. Even Waldo was just a bit awed, and the stranger was first to break that silence with words.
“How did the mishap come about, is it, young gentleman?” he said, a wan smile creeping into his face, and relaxing those tensely drawn muscles once more. “While I was trying to replenish my stock of provisions, and after this fashion, good friends.
“I was fishing from a small canoe, and as the bait was not taken well, I must have fallen into a day dream, thinking of—no matter, now. And during that dreaming, the breeze must have blown me well out into the lake, for when I was roused up by a sharp jerk at my line, I found myself near its middle, without knowing just how I came there.