When they had eaten, they started back into the country, on a long detour to avoid the farmhouse, to make their way to the sh.o.r.e in the neighbourhood of the steamboat landing. They walked across a somewhat uneven country, broken here and there by little streams that flowed down into the creeks that cut into the sh.o.r.e line. Some of these were frozen so as to bear their weight; others had open water, so they were forced to walk some distance in order to find a crossing place. Once they ascended a hill of perhaps a hundred feet, from which they could see the surrounding country and the river, plainly.

There were several smaller hills lying to the eastward of this, between one of which a stream of some considerable size ran down into a large creek above Millstone landing. They could see the farmhouse from this hill; and, with the coming in of the morning, they saw a sight that thrilled them-that made them burn with exultation-the bug-eye Brandt, making sail and going across the harbour to Solomon's Island. They watched the craft with satisfaction for a long time. Then they slowly descended the hill in the direction of the landing.

Crossing more uneven country, Harvey and Tom Edwards came finally into a road that trended down toward the sh.o.r.e. They followed that for about three quarters of a mile, till another road crossed it at right angles.

At this point, they espied, coming down the road that intersected the one they were on, a man, carrying a gunny sack over one shoulder. They halted, and waited for him to come up.

The man was ill favoured, roughly dressed, stooping and almost stealthy in his gait, looking about him from side to side. As he approached, he eyed them slyly out of the corners of a pair of sharp, black eyes, turning his head and giving them no direct glance. He would have pa.s.sed them without speaking, but Tom Edwards hailed him.

"Can you tell us what time the boat will go up the river to-day, sir?" he asked.

The man stopped, lowered his sack to the ground, and stood, darting glances at them, without replying for a moment. Then he answered, curtly, "'Twon't go up at all to-day."

Tom Edwards and Harvey looked at each other, with keenest disappointment on their faces.

"When will it go up?" continued Tom Edwards.

"Day after to-morrow-it will, if the weather's right. If it isn't, it won't. Where d'yer want to go?"

"We want to go to Baltimore," replied Tom Edwards; and added, by way of explanation, "we've come ash.o.r.e from a vessel."

"Hmph!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the stranger. "Reckon you'll stay right here to-day."

He eyed them shrewdly for a moment, in silence. Then he said, "Off a vessel, eh? You ain't flush with money, then. Couldn't pay for a night's lodging, I suppose."

"Yes, we can," answered Harvey, promptly. "We haven't got much money, but we can pay for that, and for a dinner, too. Do you know where we can get it?"

The man's appearance bespoke poor hospitality that he might have to offer; but they had met with ill success, in seeking shelter, and anything would be better than a night in the fields.

"Hm! What might you be willing to pay for keeping you over a night, with meals?" inquired the man, casting doubtful glances at their shabby, mud-stained clothing.

Harvey looked at Tom Edwards. The latter made answer.

"We'll give you a dollar for dinner, supper, night's lodging and a breakfast to-morrow," he said. "Then we'll see about what we'll do."

The man's eyes twinkled shrewdly.

"Make it two, and it's a bargain," he said.

"All right," said Harvey.

"Well, I'm going down to the sh.o.r.e," said the man, "and I'll be back this way. You can come along, or wait for me here. I won't be gone long."

"We'll wait for you," replied Tom Edwards.

The man shambled off down the road toward the landing.

"It doesn't look very inviting," said Tom Edwards, as their new-found host went on his way, "but we've got to take what we can get. We'll make up for it when we get to Baltimore."

The man's promise to be back soon was not fulfilled, for it was more than an hour before they saw him returning. He was burdened, however, with the weight of the sack, which he had evidently been to the warehouse to fill.

He set it down as he came up to them, and Harvey offered to carry it a way for him-an offer which was accepted promptly.

"I'm not so spry as I used to be," he remarked; "and you're young and rugged."

He started up along the road he had first come, and the two followed, Harvey carrying the sack, which proved to be filled with potatoes. They proceeded for about half a mile, when Harvey, wearied with his load, inquired how much farther they had to go.

"Oh, just a leetle piece," responded the man, cheerfully. He did not offer to relieve Harvey of the sack, however. The "leetle piece" proved to be fully a half mile more, when the man turned from the road and followed a wheel track through the fields. They proceeded along that for about a quarter of a mile.

"I guess I'll stop and rest for a minute," said Harvey presently. "This sack is pretty heavy."

"Sho!" exclaimed the man. "You've been carrying it a long way, haven't you? I'll take it the rest of the way."

He gave a grin, as he spoke, the reason for which was soon apparent. They had gone on for only a rod or two more when they espied, in a clump of trees, a dingy, weather-beaten house. It was of one story in height, leaning over at an angle that threatened its complete collapse at no distant day. The hearts of Tom Edwards and Jack Harvey sank. It was not a pleasant prospect for Christmas.

Throwing open the door, the man invited them to enter. They found themselves within a shabby room, bare of furnishing, save a wooden table, some chairs, strengthened with pieces of board, and a horse hair sofa in one corner, the springs of which had broken through and were touching the floor.

"You're welcome, misters," said the man, "to such as it is. It ain't nothing to boast of, but it's a sight better than some dredgers I've seen. Had breakfast?"

Harvey nodded. The place left him little appet.i.te.

It was some time before the man spoke again. He seemed to be considering something. Then he said, somewhat hesitatingly, "Misters, I know as how you are all right, by the looks of you-sailors, eh, but not such as would take advantage of a poor man. But bein' as you are strangers, why it will have to be pay in advance-and no offence intended. Besides, I don't keep much on hand, as I live alone; and I'll have to go along up the road a piece, and buy a bit of meat."

Harvey was prepared for it. In the absence of the man on his errand to the warehouse, he had carefully withdrawn four one dollar bills from the money pinned into his clothing, and now he had the two dollars ready. He handed them over.

The man s.n.a.t.c.hed the money greedily, while his eyes twinkled. He took down his slouch hat from a peg, and prepared to be off again.

"Will you make yourselves at home, misters," he said, more deferentially than before. "I'll be after a bit of meat for dinner. The old house isn't much to look at, but it don't leak rain, and it's warm. You keep the fire going, and I'll promise you'll have a dinner that beats dredgin' grub by a long sight."

He went out and left them alone. They sat for a moment in silence. Then Harvey laughed, as he surveyed the dingy room.

"Merry Christmas! Tom," he said.

It was Tom Edwards's turn to smile now.

"The same to you, Jack, old boy," he exclaimed, heartily. "I guess the old cove is right, after all. It does beat Haley's dredger-but not by such a big margin."

They explored the ramshackle house, together. There was a room opening off the one they were in, a sleeping room, with a rough cot in it that might accommodate two, on a pinch. A wood-shed led off from the first room, also. That was the extent of the cabin. They returned to the living room, which, with a small cook-stove set up in it, answered for dining-room, parlour, and kitchen in one. They replenished the fire-pot with wood, from a box, and stretched themselves out at length on the floor beside the fire. The room was at least warm, and they were still weary from lack of sleep.

The hours pa.s.sed, and it was near noon when they heard the returning footsteps of their host. He came in and busied himself with preparations for dinner, setting out a coffee pot on top of the stove and cutting some strips of bacon to fry in a pan. He took from a closet a few cold boiled potatoes, and sliced these into the pan, with the bacon.

That was their Christmas dinner; but they were hungry, and ate heartily.

Toward the end of the meal, their host eyed them slyly, but critically.

He noted their clothing, their shoes, even the wisps of hay still clinging to their hair. He arose and pretended to be busy about the fire, but cast sidelong glances at them.

"I heard that there were tramps got into Warren's barn, over yonder, last night," he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "We don't have much of that around here. Neighbour Darrell says Warren would give a dollar, and perhaps more, to catch them. But I says, 'Probably the poor fellows didn't have nowheres else to go, and I wouldn't tell on 'em, if I knew where they were.'"

Again the man stole a stealthy glance at his guests.

"I wouldn't take money for that," he added, "though I reckon it would be worth a dollar to the chaps, themselves, to keep out of the lock-up."