THE TRUTH, BUT NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH.
Winn was greatly perturbed by hearing from the _Whatnot's_ engine-room
the inquiries concerning Sheriff Riley's skiff, and Cap'n Cod's
replies. He had not meant to steal the boat, of course, but it now
seemed that he was regarded as having done so, and was being hotly
pursued by some one interested in its recovery. It was not the Sheriff
himself, for the voice was a strange one; so it was probably one of his
men, who undoubtedly had one or more companions. Winn was too ignorant
of the world to know whether escaping from a sheriff who had unjustly
arrested him, and running off with his boat, would be considered a
serious offence or not. He only knew that while perfectly conscious of
his own innocence, he yet felt very much as though he were fleeing from
justice. He had not even known until that minute that his late captor
was a sheriff, nor could he imagine why he had been arrested. What he
did know was that some one well acquainted with the fact that he had
taken a skiff not his own was now searching for it and for him. This
was sufficient to alarm him and fill his mind with visions of arrest,
imprisonment, and fines which his father would be compelled to pay.
Then, too, the Captain of this strange craft on which he had just found
an asylum, but from which he would already be glad to escape, had
declared himself to be a friend of Sheriff Riley, and well acquainted
with his boat. Of course, then, he would gladly aid his friend in
recovering his property, and would not hesitate to make a prisoner of
the person who had run off with it. In that case he would be taken
back to Dubuque in disgrace, his father would have to be sent for--and
who knew where he might be by this time?--and there would be a long
delay that he would probably have to endure in prison. In the mean
time what would become of the raft lost through his carelessness and
self-conceit?
Decidedly all this must be prevented if possible; and though the boy
would have scorned to tell a lie even to save his life, he determined
to tell as little of the truth as would be necessary to answer the
questions that he knew would shortly be put to him.
While Winn was puzzling over this situation, and trying to frame a
plausible story that would account for his presence on the tow-head
without overstepping the bounds of truth, the door of the engine-room
opened, and Cap'n Cod stumped in. He brought an armful of dry
clothing, and was beaming with the satisfaction that he always felt
when engaged in helping any one out of trouble.
"Well, my muddy young friend," he exclaimed, good-naturedly, "how are
you getting on? Has Solon taken good care of you? Here are some
clothes that, I guess, you will have to make the best of until your own
can be dried. They probably won't come within a mile of fitting, but
clothing does not make the man, you know, and we are not very critical
as to appearances aboard the _Whatnot_. By-the-way, my name is
Fifield--Aleck Fifield. What did you say yours was?"
"I don't think I said," answered the boy, slipping into a woollen shirt
many sizes too large for him; "but it is Winn."
"Winn, eh? Good name. Belong to the Massachusetts Winns?"
"My parents came from there, but I was born in Wisconsin."
"Yes, yes. Just so. But, there! I musn't hinder you. Supper is
ready, and if you haven't any better place to go to, we should be most
happy to have you join us."
"Thank you, sir," replied Winn. "I shall be only too glad to do so,
for I haven't had any supper, and the raft to which I belong has
probably gone off down the river without me."
"So you belong to a raft, eh? And what happened? Did you tumble
overboard from it?"
"No, sir. I came to this island in the skiff, and was trying to make a
line fast, when the skiff got away from me."
"And they didn't notice it through the gloom until it was too late to
do anything, and so you got left! Yes, yes. I see just how it all
happened! Such accidents are of common occurrence on the river, and
you were very fortunate to find us here. I shall be delighted to have
you for a guest tonight, and in the morning your friends will
undoubtedly return to look for you."
As he thus rattled on in cheery fashion, Cap'n Cod gathered up Winn's
wet clothing, preparatory to taking them to the galley to be dried.
Not finding either coat or shoes in the water-soaked pile, he inquired
if the boy had left the raft without them.
"No, sir," replied Winn; "but I took them off, and left them in the
skiff."
"You did! That's bad; for when your friends find the skiff with your
clothes in it, they will be apt to imagine you are drowned. Then
they'll search the river below here for your body, instead of coming
back to look for you. Never mind, though," he added quickly, mistaking
the expression of relief which this suggestion brought to Winn's face
for one of dismay, "we'll soon relieve their anxiety. We'll get a
mule, and put him in here as quick as our show earns his price. Then
we'll go humming down the river faster than any raft that ever drifted.
We may be several days in overtaking them, but I shall be only too
happy to have you remain with us for that length of time, and longer,
too, if you will. I am greatly in need of an assistant to help me run
the show. So if you are willing to take hold and work with us, the
obligation will be wholly on my side."
"Of course I will, sir!" exclaimed Winn, whose spirits were rising as
the difficulties of his situation began to disappear. "I will do
anything I can, only I didn't know this was a show-boat, and I'm afraid
I am pretty ignorant about shows anyway."
"That will be all right," replied the Captain. "My own experience in
the dramatic line has been so extensive that I shall have no difficulty
in posting you. I am surprised, though, that you did not recognize
this boat as having been built by one of the profession, and especially
adapted to its requirements. There are certain features about the
_Whatnot_--which, by the way, I consider a most original and attractive
name--that are intended to indicate--"
"Suppah, sah! An' Missy Sabel awaitin'," interrupted Solon, thrusting
his woolly head into the doorway at that moment.
Glad as Winn was of this diversion, and though he was as thankful as
only a famished boy can be that a bountiful meal awaited him, he would
willingly have gone hungry a little longer rather than enter that
dining-room just then. Although the engine-room did not afford a
mirror, he was conscious that he must present about as absurd a figure
as can well be conceived. He was bare-footed, and the left leg of his
trousers was turned up to keep it from the floor, while the right,
owing to the Captain's misfortune, barely reached his ankle. A
checkered woolen shirt hung about him in folds, and over it he wore a
garment that Cap'n Cod was pleased to style his "professional coat."
It was a blue swallow-tail, with bright brass buttons. As worn by Winn
the tails hung nearly to the floor, the cuffs were turned back over his
wrists, and the collar rubbed against his ears.
"A pretty costume in which to appear before a strange girl," thought
poor Winn, who was noted at home for being fastidious concerning his
dress and personal appearance. "I know I must look like a guy, and she
can't help laughing, of course; but if she does, I'll never speak to
her as long as I live, and I'll leave this craft the very first chance
I get."
While these thoughts were crowding fast upon one another, the boy was
being dragged into the dining-room by Cap'n Cod, and formally presented
as "Mr. Winn, of Massachusetts," to "my grand-niece Sabella, sir."
[Illustration: Winn's introduction to Sabella.]
Winn will never know whether the girl laughed or not, for at that
moment Don Blossom, who had been seated on the floor daintily nibbling
a sweet biscuit, sprang chattering to her shoulder and buried his face
in her hair, as he had done upon the boy's first appearance. This
episode formed such a seasonable diversion that by the time the girl
succeeded in freeing herself from the clutches of her pet, Winn was
seated at the table with the most conspicuous portion of his absurd
costume concealed beneath its friendly shelter.
During the meal Winn and Sabella exchanged furtive glances, which each
hoped the other would not notice, and the boy, at least, blushed
furiously whenever one of his was detected. Although neither of them
said much, the meal was by no means a silent one; for the Captain
maintained a steady and cheerful flow of conversation from its
beginning to its end. He told Sabella a thrilling tale of Winn's
narrow escape from drowning, and how his friends were at that moment
drifting far away down the river, anxiously speculating as to his fate.
Then he told Winn of the painting of the panorama, the building of the
_Whatnot_, and of his plans for the future.
When the meal finally came to an end, on account of Winn's inability to
eat any more, the boy was surprised to find how much at home he had
been made to feel by the unaffected simplicity and unobtrusive kindness
of these strangers.
While Sabella and Solon cleared the table, the Captain lighted a
lantern and showed him over the boat. Thus the boy discovered that
while its after-part was devoted to the engine-room and quarters for an
animated, one-mule-power engine, a galley, and the general living-room,
the remainder of the house was arranged as an entertainment hall, with
a small curtained stage at one end, and seats for one hundred
spectators. Cap'n Cod informed him that this was to be his sleeping
apartment so long as he remained with them. The Captain slept in the
pilot-house, while Sabella's dainty little room was in the after-house
on the upper deck, and was connected with the living-room by a flight
of inside stairs.