On the morning succeeding he was out of luck. He caught but two fish,
and they were so small that he decided not to offer them for sale.

"If I don't do better than this," he reflected, "I shan't make very good
wages. The fish seem to be getting afraid of me."

He paddled about, idly, a few rods from the shore, having drawn up his
line and hook.

All at once, he heard a voice hailing him from the river bank:

"Boat ahoy!"

"Hallo!" answered Robert, lifting his eyes, and seeing who called him.

"Can you set me across the river?"

"Yes, sir."

"Bring in your boat, then, and I'll jump aboard. I'll pay you for your
trouble."

Robert did as requested, with alacrity. He was very glad to earn money
in this way, since it seemed he was to have no fish to dispose of. He
quickly turned the boat to the shore, and the stranger jumped on board.
He was a man of rather more than the average height, with a slight limp
in his gait, in a rough suit of clothes, his head being surmounted by a
felt hat considerably the worse for wear. There was a scar on one
cheek, and, altogether, he was not very prepossessing in his appearance.
Robert noted all this in a rapid glance, but it made no particular