. .
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE STORY CLOSES AND SCHOOL OPENS
Keekie Joe could not trust himself in any such stalking exploit and he
had no standing capital of good reputation with which to verify his
honorable intention in case his bungling hand should slip. He had as
good as promised Townsend that he would not go swimming. But also
these boys all had to go to school.
I am not saying what I think he should have done; I am simply telling
you what he did. He slid silently into the water with his rags
clinging to him and started swimming up the river against the ebbing
tide. He had a simple, short-sighted, one-track mind. It never
occurred to him that by undressing he might return and don his dry
clothes again, such as they were. He had always gone in swimming with
his rags on and he was his own clothesline; they dried upon his back.
In the water, Keekie Joe was at his best. He swam to shore like a
little devil. Then, with all his might and main, he ran northward
through the woods keeping close to the shore. This necessitated his
swimming through mud and marshy places. But he hurried on, soaked,
weary, panting. He was a horrible sight when he reached the boat,
dripping with mud, his flesh torn by brambles, his ragged clothing
plastered to his poor little form like wall-paper.
He was not good at rowing but fortunately all he had to do was to guide
the old punt while the tide carried it down. And so he brought the old
boat to the island and pulled it well up on the shore, and tied it with
a rope.
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