p
in the water with a splash, and pulling hard for a few strokes. "Well!"

"I felt obliged to," said Dexter, whose perseverance was rewarded by a
complete victory over the first stocking, when the second yielded it
with a better grace, and he soon had on his shoes, and then began to dry
his ears by thrusting his handkerchief-covered finger in the various
windings of each gristly maze.

"Felt obliged to?"

"Yes, of course. We couldn't steal the boat."

"Yah, steal it! Who ever said a word about stealing? We've only
borrowed it, and if we don't send it back, old Danby's got lots of
money, and he can buy another. But, got no money! Well!"

"But we don't want money, do we!" said Dexter, whom the excitement as
well as his clothes now began to make comparatively warm. "I thought we
were going where we could soon make our fortunes."

"Yes, of course we are, stoopid; but you can't make fortunes without
money. You can't ketch fish if yer ain't got no bait."

This was a philosophical view of matters which took Dexter aback, and he
faltered rather as he spoke next, this time with his ears dry, his hair
not so very wet, and his jacket buttoned up to his chin.

"I'm very sorry, Bob," he said gently.

"Sorry! Being sorry won't butter no parsneps," growled Bob.

"No," said Dexter mildly, "but we haven't got any parsneps to butter."

"No, nor ain't likely to have," growled Bob, and then returning to a
favourite form of expression: "And you call yourself a mate! Here, come
and kitch holt of this scull."

Dexter sat down on the thwart, and took the scull after Bob had
contrived to give him a spiteful blow on the back with it before he
extricated it from its rowlock.

Dexter winced slightly, but he bore the pain without a word, and began
rowing as well as a boy does row who handles a scull for the first time
in his life. And there he sat, gazing to right and left at the dark
banks of the river, and the stars above and reflected below, as they
went slowly on along the bends and reaches of the little river,
everything looking strangely distorted and threatening to the boy's
unaccustomed eyes.

The exercise soon began to bring a general feeling of warmth to his
chilled frame, and as the inward helplessness passed away it began to
give place to an acute sense of fear, and his eyes wandered here and
there in search of Sir James Danby, the doctor, and others more
terrible, who would charge them with stealing the boat