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"No, ma'am," replied a gigantic riverman who was working near at hand, "that ain't nothin'. Ordinary, however, we travel that way on the river. At night we have the cookee pass us out each a goose-ha'r piller, and lay down for the night." Carroll looked at him in reproof. He grinned slowly. "Don't git worried about me, ma'am," said he, "I'm hopeless.
"Guess you're out of a job now, cookee," said Shand. "Now we'll have something to eat besides lead sinkers," added Joe. Sam laughed with the others, and, retiring a little, watched how she did it. The girl affected him differently from the rest. Diffidence overcame him. He scarcely ever raised his eyes to her face. All watched her delightedly, each man showing it according to his nature.
The crew that weighed anchor at Rigolette on the morning of September 2nd, when the wind came and the tide had turned, was a happy one, for from Professor to "cookee" we all felt that we were truly homeward bound, and that we had accomplished our undertaking without any cause for lasting regret.
Cookee also began packing the travelling outfit, for he would accompany the men on the trip down the river. They would make a camp at a place for a night or two, and then move on, as the large drift of logs permitted.
When Big Chief retired with his men for consultation, he called Jarwin aside. "Jarwin," he said, with unusual gravity, "you must not hear our palaver." "Why not, old feller?" "It is your business to obey, not to question," replied Big Chief, sternly. "Go when I want you I will find you. You may go and look at the Cookee missionary, but, remember, I have your promise."
I'll git bote on yer or chase yer all over the Nort!" and Cookee laughed as he thought of Mike's determined manner when he threw down both turkeys. "Why, how perfectly lovely! We will have a real Eastern dinner after all," cried Mrs. Starr. "An dat ain't all dere is to it, nuther!
Starr had quietly appropriated the pretty red berries for a future use. Now they reappeared as cranberry sauce. "Huh! who'd a'thought them sour little balls'd made sich a fine juice!" exclaimed Cookee, smacking his lips after a taste of the sauce. "That's to go with the venison on Christmas Day," said Mrs. Latimer. "Didn't yeh know? Heven't yeh hearn what Mike cotched?" asked Cookee eagerly.
Twice whiskey had been smuggled in, to the utter demoralization of the camp; and one morning, as a last straw, "Cookee" had nearly severed his left hand from his arm with a meat axe. Young Wingate, the head engineer, and Mr. Brown, the foreman, took counsel together. For the three meals of that day they tried three different men out of the gang as "cookees."
The cookee brought the food from the kitchen, poured the tea, and then wiped his hands briskly on his canvas apron. "I want to shake with you, Mr. Harlan!" He put out his hand, so frankly confident that he was doing the proper thing that the young man grasped it. "It was done to 'em good and proper. They tried to pull too hot a kittle out of the bean-hole that time sure they did!
When he had again straightened his back after rather a prolonged interval, the group had already disintegrated. A few minutes later the cookee scattered the brands of the fire from before a sleeping camp. Thorpe had listened non-committally to the colloquy.
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