"You don't know how to row," said Susannah.
She showed no eagerness, for she felt none. The hope she had just formed was most uncertain, for it appeared not at all likely that she could escape in this way without being molested.
"I bet I can row," said the boy, "as well as any man in town."
"That isn't saying much," said Susannah. "The men about here have very few boats, and they are most of them afraid to go on anything smaller than the steamer."
"I could row t'other side and back," bragged the boy. "I could row t'other side and back three times in the day."
"You couldn't."
"I couldn't! What will you bet?"
"I suppose your father wouldn't allow you to go, anyway."
He was a fresh-faced, mischievous, eager young rascal, and he found Susannah's manner pleasant and provoking.
"Will you lay five dollars on it?" he cried. "Pap is away down to Quincy. If you'll lay five dollars on it I'll do it."