I can get dry by the stove at the same time. I'll have a chance
to see Elta before bedtime, and she'd feel badly if I didn't eat her
supper anyway."
All of which goes to show how very little we know of what even the
immediate future may bring forth, and that if we put off for a single
hour doing that which ought to be done at once, what a likelihood there
is that we may never have a chance to do it.
CHAPTER III.
A MUD-BESPATTERED ARRIVAL FROM CALIFORNIA.
Acting upon the suggestion contained in Elta's note, Winn lighted a
fire in the galley stove, and was soon enjoying its cheery warmth.
When the tea was heated, he ate heartily of the supper so thoughtfully
provided by the dear girl, and his heart grew very tender as he thought
of her and of her unwearying love for him. "I ought to go and find her
this very minute," he said to himself; "but I must get dry first, and
there probably isn't any fire up at the house."
To while away the few minutes that he intended remaining on the raft,
Winn got one of the books of exploration from a shelf in the little
after-room, and was quickly buried in the heart of an African forest.
Completely lost to his surroundings, and absorbed in tales of the wild
beasts and wilder men of the Dark Continent, the boy read on and on
until the failing light warned him that his lamp was about to go out
for want of oil.
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