Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/123

Rh "Why don't you row, Lazy?"

"It's too much like work. Shadow wanted me to come along and keep him company," and Sam Day gave a deep yawn.

"I told him one of my best stories, just to keep him awake, but it didn't work," came from Shadow. "It was a story about a Dutchman who——"

"Say, don't tell it again, please," burst in Sam Day. "I heard it once."

"You didn't act as if you heard it, and, anyway, the others weren't here," went on Shadow, calmly. "This Dutchman was taking a vacation along the shore of a chain of lakes. One day he went out for a row, and while he was in the middle of one of the lakes his boat began to leak. 'Maybe I got trowned alretty, ain't it!' said he to himself, and put for an island in the middle of the lake. He stayed on the island all that day and that night, until he was half starved. Then he began to yell for help, and by and by some men came along in a boat. 'What's the matter with you?' asked one of the men. 'Mine poat is busted an' I canno get me py der shore again!' said the Dutchman. 'I canno schwim!' 'Then why don't you walk to shore,' said one of the men. 'The water is only two feet deep!' 'Py chiminy! Two feets, und I vos so hungry like neffer vos!' groaned the Dutchman, and tore his hair out by the roots."