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"Come out of that hole if the bugs have not carried you off," he called out in his blunt way. "The Chilians have gone back to Valparaiso to report that they could not find their man here." Jack and Fret Offut had come to something of an understanding, though the latter was reluctant to meet Mr. Pearce.
Fret Offut nodded lightly to the other, as he entered the boat which was to take them to the vessel. The trip to Valparaiso was uneventful, but there Jack met with a great disappointment. The <i>Standish</i> had left for its homeward voyage. Thus Jack found himself left alone among strangers, save for the companionship of Fret Offut, who seemed disposed to hold aloof from him.
He was never more surprised than he was upon finding at the last moment that Fret Offut had been delegated to accompany him as helper. At first he could not believe it; but there the awkward youth was, and that he was sent for that purpose was plainly indicated by the order from John Fowler & Co.
"Only a miserable pittance," implored the ragged wretch, holding out a dirty hand for the gift. Something in the beggar's tone and manner arrested Jack's attention. He had been addressed in English, which was unusual, but there was more than the language to attract him to the poor alms seeker. Then, as he bent a closer gaze on the person, he exclaimed: "Fret Offut! can this be you?"
"Don't you dare come any nearer, Fret Offut! Stand back, or the worst will be your own!" It was Jenny speaking, and as Jack dashed down to the side of the old mill he discovered her at the further extremity of the ruins defiantly facing young Offut, who was kept from approaching any nearer to her by a club she held in her hands, uplifted over her head.
There is a fortune for you if you can only find it." Mr. Pearce spoke somewhat lightly, but Jack could see that he was deeply interested in the account. Our hero had been cautious enough not to let Fret Offut into the secret, knowing he could not be trusted. "I believe I could find that wonderful island which plays at hide and seek if I were to try it," said Mr. Pearce.
This novel method of bailing a boat by boring a hole in her bottom fully established his fame at New Salem, and so delighted the enthusiastic Offut that, on the spot, he engaged its inventor to come back after the voyage to New Orleans and act as clerk for him in a store. The hole plugged up again, and the boat's cargo reloaded, they made the remainder of the journey in safety.
After many months there arrived in the neighborhood one Denton Offut, one of those scheming, talkative, evanescent busybodies who skim vaguely over new territories. This adventurer had a cargo of hogs, pork, and corn, which he wanted to send to New Orleans, and the engagement fell to Lincoln and two comrades at the wage of fifty cents per day and a bonus of $60 for the three.
"Yes. Let me go or I'll tell Fowler. Oh oh!" "Tell Fowler, will you?" "No no! Let me go!" "You promise it?" "Yes," spluttered the man as soon as he could speak. "I think that will be enough this time." declared the triumphant Jack. "If I could get my hands on you, Fret Offut, I would give you a dose of the same medicine." "I ain't done nothing!" cried the terrified youth.
Then, as he struck his foot against a piece of scrap iron and reeled backward in spite of all he could, his friends groaned, while Fret Offut cried, exultantly: "Ho, my fine cub, down you go this time! Henshaw " But Mr. Henshaw never knew what was to be said to him, neither did the young bully ever realize fully just what followed. Jack, concentrating all the strength he possessed, rallied.
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