“You saved me!” she declared gratefully.
“It weren’t nothin’,” he replied as he sought another run. “There’s thousands o’ varmints like him in this swamp.”
“And to think Penny and I dared come here by ourselves the other day! We didn’t realize how dangerous it was!”
The incident had so unnerved both of the girls, that some minutes elapsed before they recalled the strange pounding sound which had previously held their attention.
“I don’t hear it now,” Penny said, listening intently. “Just before we ran into that snake, you were about to say something, Joe.”
The guide stopped paddling a moment. “Was I now?” he asked. “I don’t recollect.”
“We were talking about the strange noise. You said you never had heard anything like it before in the swamp. Then you added—‘I wonder—’”
“Jest a-thinkin’,” Joe said, picking up the paddle once more. “One does a lot o’ that in the swamp.”
“And not much talking,” rejoined Penny, slightly annoyed. “What do you think made the noise?”
“Couldn’t rightly say.”