"'You furnish nothin' except your grub,' he interrupts. 'The launch'll
be ready and the lines and hooks and bait'll be ready. My own man was to
do the job, but he and I had a heart-to-heart talk just now and I told
him where he could go and go quick. No smart Alec gets the best of me,
even if he has got a month's contract. You run that launch and put me on
the fishin' grounds. I pay you for that and bringin' me back again. And
I furnish my own extras and you can furnish yours. I don't want any of
your Yankee bargainin'. See?'

"I saw. There wa'n't no real reason why I couldn't take the job. 'Twas
well along into September; the hotel was closed for the season; and
about all I had on my hands just then was time.

"'All right,' says I, 'it's a deal. If you'll guarantee to have your
launch ready, I--'

"'That's my business,' he says. 'It'll be ready. If it ain't you'll get
your pay just the same. To-morrer mornin' at eight o'clock. And don't
you forget and be late. Gid-dap, you blackguard!' says he to the horse.

"'Hold on, just a minute,' I hollers, runnin' after him. 'I don't want
to be curious nor nosey, you understand, but seems 's if it might help
me to be on time if I knew where your launch was goin' to be and what
your name was.'

"He pulled up then. 'Humph!' he says, 'if you don't know my name and
more about my private affairs than I do myself, you're the only one in
this county that don't. My name's Williams, and I live in what you folks
call the Lathrop place over here toward Trumet. The launch is at my
landin' down in front of the house.'