“Now,” said Bluff, after he had injected one of these into the firing chamber, “I feel safe in passing that boat. If they make any sort of a move against us, I’ll let fly a load in the air first to warn ’em that the repeater isn’t on the shelf any longer, but ready to do business at the same old stand.”
“Well, be careful what you do, that’s all,” warned Frank, determined to keep in close touch with his hot-headed comrade, so that in an emergency he could snatch the gun away, if Bluff seemed disposed to use it the wrong way.
But they were not molested at all. The big young chap who had been tinkering with the engine, grinned as they passed by, and Frank thought he nodded to them in a sort of friendly way, as though to say he understood what had happened, and considered it a good joke on his employer.
“Engine broke down?” asked Bluff, in a friendly manner, as he passed.
“Just what she has,” replied the other; “and if we send back to St. Paul for a casting we may be stuck right here several days.”
“Hope it is a whole month,” muttered Bluff, as he trotted along at the heels of his leader; and Frank, for that matter, echoed the wish, since it would save them from more or less anxiety.
When they got aboard the _Pot Luck_ it was to find that supper was well under way, and that the two who ran the house were quite ignorant of what had been going on.
And as Bluff, in his impatient style, started to exclaim how he only wished that Oswald had run up against Frank’s fist, both Will and Jerry jumped to their feet, demanding that they hear the story.
Their indignation was justifiable when told of the trap Fredericks and his set had laid for Frank. And Bluff was only too proud when he heard Frank admit that if it had not been for his having his “terrible weapon” along at the time, the chances were that when they two came back to the boat, they would be bearing some of the marks of a fiercely contested battle on their faces.
“And I want to serve notice here and now,” continued Bluff, as he affectionately patted his pump-gun, and held it up to the gaze of the others; “that after this there’s going to be no sort of sport made of this noble weapon. Today it saved Frank and myself a mauling. When they saw what it was, they cringed like a pack of cowards. Why, would you believe it? that Ellis just crawled under the table! Shows the kind of fellow he is. And, boys, the gun was empty and out of commission all the while, remember.”