“Did you see anything of Dr. Pomford as you came up the lake?” “Dr. Pomford? I don’t know him, sir.” “I suppose not. He is from Philadelphia, and is spending a week with me. He is fond of fishing, and we came up here to try our luck.” “But how came you on that raft, sir?” I inquired. “Did you lose your friend overboard?” “No; we had a boat, which we fastened to the raft on the fishing-ground. We found the raft there, moored with stakes in the deep water. Dr. Pomford had the misfortune to drop his bottle of brandy overboard, after we had been fishing about an hour. Being quite chilly, he went back to the hotel after some more, leaving me on the raft, for the fish were biting well, and I did not like to leave them; besides, he is a younger man than I am, and can move about easier. His boat was fastened to one of the stakes, and I think, when he started, he must have pulled it up. I don’t know how it happened, but as soon as the doctor was out of sight behind the cliff, I found myself adrift.” It was not polite for me to say anything; but I could not help thinking, that if the brandy bottle had dropped overboard sooner, the colonel would have understood the matter better. I had never heard that the great man was in the habit of drinking too much; but the odor of his breath led me to my conclusion. I think he was somewhat fuddled, or he would have gone with the doctor in the boat. “I never suffered so much in three hours before in my life,” continued the colonel. “No canal boat, steamer, or other craft came near me, and I cried for help till my voice gave out. Wolf, I would have given half my fortune, if not the whole of it, to have been taken from that raft a moment before you saw me. If I had known you were in charge of the boat, I should not have expected you to save me.” “My mother always taught me to love my enemies,” I answered. “I hear the ministers talk about such things, but I never believed much in them. I am under very great obligations to you, Wolf. You have treated me as well as though I had always been your best friend.” “It is all right, sir. I am satisfied, if you are.” “I am not satisfied; and I shall never be satisfied until I have made you some return for all this.” “I shall not take anything, sir,” I replied, resolutely. “I will give you a man’s wages, if you will take the place as engineer of the new steamer.” “Thank you for the offer, Colonel Wimpleton; but I cannot accept it at present. I never desert my friends till they kick me.” “That is as much as to say that I kicked you before you left Centreport.” “I think we had better bury the past.” “I will make it all right with your father; he shall have better wages than he has now.” “I am much obliged to you, sir; but we are both of us very well satisfied where we are.”