you how to cook bear's meat. There's
something you don't know."

"Did you ever cook bear's meat?" I asked him.

"Surest thing you know," he said; "black bears, gray bears, grisly
bears--"

"Jiminy," I said.

Then he went on and this is what he told me, keeping his arm around my
shoulder and every minute or so listening and looking out over the
water. "Here's something you didn't know," he said. Gee, I can remember
every word almost, because you bet I listened. A fellow couldn't help
listening to him. He said, "When Jake Holden went down the bay, your
Uncle Dudley was with him."

I said, "You mean you?"

"I mean _me_," he said. "I was home from Camp Dix on a short leave and
was on my way to see the old gent and the rest of the folks, when who
should I run plunk into but that old water rat. It was five o'clock in
the morning, and I was just taking a hop, skip and a jump off the
train. 'Come on down the bay fishing,' he says. 'What, in these togs?'
I told him. 'I'll get 'em all greased up and what'll Uncle Sam say?'
'Go home and get some old ones,' he said. ''Gainst the rules,' I said,
'can't be running around in civilized clothes.' 'You should worry about
civilized clothes,' he said. 'Go up to your dad's old house-boat in the
marshes and get some fishin' duds on--the locker's full of 'em.' 'Thou
hast said something,' I told him; 'go and get your old scow ready and
I'm with you.'"

Then he hit me a good rap on the shoulder and said, "So you see how it
was, kiddo? Instead of going home to hear how handsome I looked, I just
beat it up that creek and fished this suit of greasy rags out of one of
the lockers. There was a key in the padlock and I just took off my
uniform and stuffed it in the locker and beat it over to Little Landing
in Bridgeboro."

"You locked the padlock and took the key, didn't you?" I said.

"Righto," he said, "and I thought I'd be back that same night and down
to Dix again by morning. See? But instead of that, here I am and blamed
near a week gone by and Uncle Sam on the hunt for me. A nice pickle I'm
in. What do you say?"

"Gee, I wouldn't want to be you," I said; "anyway, I'm sorry for you.
But I don't see why you didn't go back like you said." Then he went
over to the railing and looked all around in a hurry.

"I guess they won't be back for an hour yet," I told him; "they went to
the movies."

So he came back and sat down beside me again and began talking very
excited, as if I was ki