“For this, you buy me a new knife when we reach a store somewhere. Knives cost money, and I can’t afford to waste mine on girls.”
“You shall have a new knife, and thank you very much for your courtesy,” returned Elfreda.
Stacy gave her a sidelong glance.
“You look all fagged out. After you finish that can, better go in and lie down. Besides, it won’t do to overload your stomach so soon after a bath.”
“Oh, you funny boy!” Elfreda laughed until two tear drops were sparkling on her brown cheeks. “If you will catch some fish I promise to cook them for you, and we will have a real spread. Yes, I will take a nap, for I am completely fagged. Did you discover any coffee in the shack?”
“Uh-huh. I didn’t have time to make coffee. I’m too busy to do so now.”
Miss Briggs went to the shack, spread out the blankets for inspection, and found them clean; so she laid them on the bed and stretched out for a rest. Until then she had not realized how weary she was, and, in a few moments, fell into a deep sleep.
After a time Stacy took a nap by the stump, from which he did not awaken until late in the afternoon. He did not know what time it was, his watch having stopped on his wet ride from the village of Silver Creek. The fat boy decided to go fishing. There was a bamboo pole, hook and line in the shack, and this he got, after taking a squint at the sleeping Elfreda.
“Girls are such sleepy-heads,” muttered the boy, as he shouldered the pole and went out, making all the noise he could, all of which failed to awaken Miss Briggs. On the way to the stream he looked for a rotting stump, one of which he eventually found, and with his hunting knife managed to dig out some nice white grubs for bait.
“Humph! They do look almost good enough to eat,” he muttered, surveying some of the grubs in the palm of his hand. “I don’t blame the fish for liking them.”