"I'll spare another stick or two," he said, replenishing the fire. "I
can't go into that hole yet."
The fire blazed up, and the twilight grew thicker, and the fire had
nearly burned out again while Bobby, dreaming of home and Mrs. Abel, and
wondering where Abel Zachariah and Skipper Ed and Jimmy were, fell into
a doze. Then it was that something unlooked for startled him into sudden
wakefulness.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE WINTER OF FAMINE
Faintly over the waters, but quite loud enough for Bobby to hear, came a
hail, and Bobby was on his feet in an instant, shouting with all the
power of his lusty young lungs. Then he ran to his cave and got his gun,
and fired three shots at intervals of a few seconds, and with the last
shot listened tense with eagerness and excitement.
This was a signal that he and Jimmy had agreed upon. It meant, "Come! I
want you," and when at home if Jimmy wished Bobby to come over to
Skipper Ed's cabin, or Bobby wished Jimmy to come to Abel Zachariah's
cabin, it was the way they called one another. And when the signal was
heard, two shots were fired in quick succession to say, "I hear, and I
will come," or two shots with an interval between, to say, "I hear you,
but I can't come." Then it was the duty of the one who had fired the
three shots in the beginning, whether or not his invitation had been
accepted, to fire a single shot to say: "I hear you and understand."
And so it was that Bobby listened eagerly.
Pages:
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134