I'm bound to have that raft, though. It is simply a case of
necessity, and necessity is in the same fix we are, so far as law is
concerned."
While thus thinking, Mr. Gilder had stepped into a light skiff that was
moored near the boom, and was pulling towards the stranded raft. He
first examined its position, and assured himself that very little labor
would be necessary to float it; then he stepped aboard, and very nearly
lost his customary self-possession upon the receipt of Winn's warm
greeting. He was on the point of returning it in a manner that would
have proved most unpleasant for poor Winn, when he discovered that his
supposed assailant was only a boy, and that the act was unintentional.
It took the shrewd man but a few minutes to discover the exact state of
affairs aboard the raft, and to form a plan for gaining peaceful, if
not altogether lawful, possession of it. This plan he began to carry
out by the false statement of the situation made to Winn at the
conclusion of the last chapter. This beginning was not made, however,
until he had first gained the lad's confidence by a deed of kindness.
When Winn looked up from his hard thinking he said, "I hate the thought
of throwing the wheat overboard, even to save the raft. There are two
thousand bushels of it, and I know my father expects to get at least
fifty cents a bushel.
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