"I don't mean that we shall starve, Clip," he said.
Clip showed his teeth.
"Dat coffee's awful good, Massa Bob," he said.
"Yes, but we can't make it on board the boat. I shall have to depend on getting it at the villages on the way."
"How far are we from home, Massa Bob?"
"Well thought of, Clip. I will inquire."
He asked the keeper of the restaurant the distance to Carver.
"I don't know, but I think my waiter comes from that neighborhood. Sam, how far away is Carver?"
"Forty miles," answered Sam promptly.
"I thought it had been more. We have been eight hours coming on the river."