"Look a-heah, you chil'en! wot you doin' wid my boat?"
"We're going to board the Rip Van Winkle," shouted Clark Ridgeway, and Willy Kyle added:
"Yes, Kisedek, and if we hadn't kept your boat off shore, she'd have been high and dry by this time."
"Dat's so. De tide's out, but it's a-comin' in agin. Jes' you fotch de boat right in."
"Are you going a-fishing?" asked little Ben Kyle.
"I's gwine foh some flounders 'way 'cross de bay. Jes' you chil'en let de Wip Van Rinkle alone. She ain't no wreck ob yourn."
"Now, Kisedek Pound," said Barbie Kyle, "she's right there, and she's been there ever so long."
"Dat's so. Dah she is. But she's gwine away, chil'en."
"Going away!" said Jim Ridgeway. "I'd like to see her do it. She's half full of water, and stuck in the mud."
"Dat's so, but den it ain't jes' so. Dar's been men a-nailin' up de holes in her so she'd float. Dey jes' druv away all de black-fish. De fish won't come no moah, now dey can't git inside."