"I didn't notice that you needed a new suit," returned the old lady, "but my niece, Mrs. Tracy, spoke of it, and I was glad to take the hint."
It was in the afternoon of the same day that Luke, having an errand that carried him near the lake shore, strolled to the end of North Pier. He was fond of the water, but seldom had an opportunity to go out on it.
"How are you, Luke?" said a boy in a flat-bottomed boat a few rods away.
In the boy who hailed him Luke recognized John Hagan, an acquaintance of about his own age.
"Won't you come aboard?" asked John.
"I don't mind, if you'll come near enough."
In five minutes Luke found himself on board the boat, He took the oars and relieved John, who was disposed to rest.
They rowed hither and thither, never very far from the pier. Not far away was a boat of the same build, occupied by a man of middle size, whose eccentric actions attracted their attention. Now he would take the oars and row with feverish haste, nearly fifty strokes to a minute; then he would let his oars trail, and seem wrapped in thought. Suddenly the boys were startled to see him spring to his feet and, flinging up his arms, leap head first into the lake.