“Non. I no try steal boat,” the Frenchman denied. “I been up North East Carry. Geet lost comin’ back and ver’ tired. See boat, and geet in to tak’ rest. Dat rope she must bust. Boat drift off. I know nuttin ’bout it till I wake up, see you try tie me up.”
“Hum, it’s mighty strange how a boat could chafe an inch and a half rope in two with almost no wind blowing,” Bob returned shaking his head. “No, I’m afraid it won’t go down. I’m sorry about your arm, but I didn’t much fancy being choked to death. Tom Bean will set it for you and he can do as good a job as any doctor.”
“But I lose my wages,” the man whined.
“I suppose so,” Bob replied. “But that’s your fault. You tried to kill me and I had to protect myself.”
By this time a glance at the steam gage told Bob that there was enough steam to start the boat, and opening the valve he soon had the boat moving slowly through the water.
“Now I’ll have to go to the pilot-house to steer her,” he announced, “and if you try any funny business you’ll be a long time getting that arm fixed.”
Without waiting for the man to reply, Bob quickly made his way to the pilot-house. The boat was headed down the lake and he swung her in a long curve and soon had her pointed toward the camp. He had set the steam for slow speed and as the boat was within about a hundred feet of the wharf he rushed back to the engine room and shut it off. The man still sat in the chair and had apparently not moved. Quickly returning to the pilot-house, he saw that the boat had made more progress than he had judged she would, and realized that she would hit the wharf too hard for safety. So he had to throw the wheel over as far as he could. The boat responded nobly, but even so he missed the wharf by only a few inches.
“That was a bit too close for comfort,” he declared, as the boat moved slowly up the lake.
The steamer was fully a hundred feet from the wharf when she finally lost headway.
“It’s a whole lot harder to run a steamboat alone than I thought,” he said aloud. “I wonder if I can pole her in. Here goes for a try anyhow.”