"Nothing of her size on this bay can overhaul her," replied Budd, with a touch of pride.
"Indeed!" remarked the man, with apparent satisfaction. "What do you ask a day for her use?"
"We never let her except myself or my partner go with her," explained Budd, "and our prices depend on the party and the time we are gone."
"Which of course is a very nice way to arrange it, I'm sure," said the stranger.
"Well, to come to business. My name is Wilson--Thomas Kortright Wilson--a direct descendant of James Wilson, of Philadelphia, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and once a Judge of the United States Supreme Court. Doubtless you have heard of him;" and Mr. Wilson said this with an air and tone that implied "You are very ignorant if you have not."
Budd modestly admitted that he had heard of that distinguished gentleman, and then his companion went on:
"I am camping out with a party of friends upon Patience Island. We have been there a week, but we can stand it no longer. It is horribly lonesome there; not a house on the island, not a solitary person there but ourselves. There is no gunning or fishing worth speaking of, and this morning the boys voted for a change, and sent me over here to hire a boat to take us and our camping outfit to Block Island, so I rowed over in that boat," and Mr. Wilson here pointed to a small skiff a few rods below the wharf, "and walked up the street till I met you. It is wonderful good fortune that I should have run in with you at once. Now, what will you ask to move our camp?"
"How many are there in your party, and how much of an outfit have you?" asked Budd.
"There are five of us, and we have only a few traps; you can carry everything at one trip," said Mr. Wilson, briskly.
"I ought to have five dollars," Budd declared: "and I shall have to go home before I can make the trip."