Randy of the River; Or, The Adventures of a Young Deckhand — John Shaqi
Randy of the River; Or, The Adventures of a Young DeckhandAlger, Horatio, Jr.
General
Randy of the River; Or, The Adventures of a Young Deckhand
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
Boats and boating -- Juvenile fiction; Bullies -- Juvenile fiction; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Poverty -- Juvenile fiction
It appeared that neither of the men knew the lady excepting by name.
She was, however, fairly well known to the tug captain, and had gone up
the river on the craft to please her little girl.
"I am sorry for this, Mrs. Shalley," said the tug owner. "I must say, I
don't know what to do."
"I must get dry clothing on Helen pretty soon."
"The tug is wet from end to end from the escaped steam."
"If I was down at Riverport I could go to the hotel," went on Mrs.
Shalley.
"We can take you down in our rowboat," said Jack. "It won't take very
long."
"Can I trust myself in the boat?"
"Certainly, if you'll only sit still."
The matter was talked over, and it was decided that the lady and her
little girl should be taken down to Riverport by Randy and Jack. The
party was soon on the way.
"My name is Mrs. Andrew Shalley," said the lady. "My husband is a
steamboat owner. May I ask your names?"
"Mine is Jack Bartlett. I live in Riverport, but I am going to move to
Albany."
"And my name is Randy Thompson," added our hero. "I live over there--in
the little cottage by that clump of trees."
"I am pleased to know you," said the lady. "It was more than kind of
both of you to come to the assistance of myself and my daughter."
"It wasn't so much to do," answered Randy. "We were close by."
"You are soaking wet."
"It's an old working suit and I don't mind the water," laughed our
hero.
"What a nice lot of fish," said little Helen, who had now completely
recovered.
"I feel I should reward you both," went on Mrs. Shalley.
"I don't want anything," said Jack, promptly.
"And neither do I," added our hero.
The hotel at which the lady was stopping was built close to the river
bank. Mother and child landed at the dock and Randy and Jack bade them
good-by.
"I shall try to see you again," said Mrs. Shalley, as she started for
the hotel.
"Evidently a very nice lady," remarked Jack, as he and Randy rowed
away.
"Yes."
"I think she wanted to reward us, Randy."
"I think so myself, but I don't want any reward."
"Neither do I, although I shouldn't mind, say ten thousand dollars,"
went on Jack, by way of a joke.
"Or the Presidency of the United States," added Randy, in an equally
light tone.
The boys had caught so many fish Randy decided to sell some from his
share. He found a purchaser on the dock where they landed and started
home richer by fifty cents.
"If I can't get anything else to do, I can do some fishing later on,"
he mused. "I can get at least two or three dollars' worth of fish a
week, and that would be better than nothing--and I could keep right on
with the farm, too."
When Randy returned home he had quite a story to tell, to which both
his father and his mother listened with interest.
"Randy, you must be careful in the water," said Mrs. Thompson, with an
anxious look in her eyes. "Supposing that girl had dragged you down?"
"I was on my guard, mother."
"Randy is a good swimmer," said his father. "I was a good swimmer
myself, in my younger days."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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