He told his story very
simply.
"The boat belonged to his father, who was a widow-man with only one
child. He used the boat for fishing, and sometimes he took Johnny
with him, sometimes not. On the trips without the boy he used to
stay out longer, sometimes a week or ten days. About a week ago
he had started out on one of these trips with two other men. They
had a dory in tow. They hadn't come back. Johnny had seen the piece
in the paper. Here was the boat, for sure, but no dory. As for the
rest of the story--well, that was all that Johnny had to tell us
about it--the mystery was as far away as ever.
"He was a fine, sturdy little chap, with tanned face and clear
blue eyes. He was rather shaken by his experience, of course, but
he wouldn't cry--not for the world. We were glad to take him in
for the night, while we verified his story by telegraph. It seemed
the boat was practically his only inheritance, and the first question
he asked, after we had gone over it, was how much we wanted him to
pay for salvage.
"'Just one cent,' said Alice, taking the words out of my mouth, 'and
what is more, we are going to have her repaired for you.
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