“Extraordinarily kind! Most polite, I’m quite sure!”
“The trouble with you fellows,” said Jimmy solicitously, “is that you’ve been lying around here in the sun. What you need is a local application of cold water to the cranium——”
“Doesn’t he talk beautifully, ’Ighness?”
“It’s wonderful,” sighed the other.
“And it’s my duty to attend to the matter,” concluded Jimmy. Nick opened his eyes then and the colored supplement quivered emotionally.
“Respect the dead, Jimmy,” warned Nick, “or I’ll forget that I’m a lifeless corpse and lay you out with a paddle. Who’s there with you?”
“Dud Baker.”
“Ah, the sprightly Baker,” murmured Nick. “Salutations, Baker.”
“Hello,” replied Dud from the further end of the canoe. “Hello, Ordway.”
Hugh cast aside the paper and carefully assumed a sitting position. “Hello, Baker,” he said. “Nick, I fancy we’re rescued.”