Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/267

Rh young man, who at once noticed Fred’s infirmity, and, taking his hand, guided him to his seat in the stern, where he gazed at him attentively, almost curiously, while Rob was seating  himself by his side.

“Now,” went on the stranger, when they were settled, and the other boat made fast, “where are you boys trying to go? And where did you come from?”

“Island Den,” answered Rob. “Perhaps you don’t know where that is, but it’s up by the hotel. We’ll be ever so much obliged if you will take us back.”

“I can do it as well as not,” said their new friend. “I am on my way to the hotel now. And I do know Island Den, for I was going to call there to-morrow.”

“Why, do you know cousin Jack?” asked Rob in astonishment.

“If cousin Jack is Mr. Rogers,” said the stranger, laughing at Rob’s surprise, “I know him quite well. But how does it happen that I have never heard of this small cousin?”

“Oh, he’s no real cousin. Cousin Alice, Mrs. Rogers, is my cousin, and I’ve never been