was ready to make the coffee.
In the middle of the afternoon Uncle Marvin woke up from his midday nap and said it was too hot to sleep any longer. We sat around for ten or fifteen minutes, nobody saying much, and after a while Uncle Marvin got up and said he thought he would walk over to the other camp and see how the people from Caruthersville, or Evansville, or wherever they came from, were getting along.
Jim and I were up and ready to go along, but he shook his head and told us to stay there. We could not help feeling that there was something unusual about that, because Uncle Marvin had always taken us with him no matter where he went when we were camping on the island. When Jim said something about going along, Uncle Marvin got excited and told us to do as he said, or we would find ourselves being sorry.
“You boys stay here and take it easy,” he said. “I’ve got to find out what kind of people they are before we start in to mix with them. They’re from up the river, and there’s no telling what they’re like till I get to know them. You boys just stay here and take it easy till I get back.”
After he had gone, we got up and picked our way through the dry underbrush toward the other camp. Jim kept urging me to hurry so we would not miss seeing anything, but I was afraid we would make so much noise Uncle Marvin would hear us and run back and catch us looking.
“Uncle Marvin didn’t tell them he’s a preacher,” Jim said. “Those girls think he’s a river captain, and I’ll bet he wants them to keep on thinking so.”
“He doesn’t look like a river captain. He looks like a preacher. Those girls were just saying that for fun.”
“The dark one acted like she’s foolish about Uncle Marvin,” Jim said. “I could tell.”
“That’s Jean,” I said.
“How do you know what their names are?”
“Didn’t you hear Graham talking to them when they were carrying their stuff off that houseboat?”
“Maybe he did,” Jim said.
“He called that one Jean, and the light one Marge.”
Jim bent down and looked through the bushes.
“Uncle Marvin’s not mad at them now for coming here to camp,” he said.
“How can you tell he’s not?” I asked Jim.
“I can tell by the way he’s acting up now.”
“He told Graham to get the houseboat away from here, didn’t he?”
“Sure he did then,” Jim whispered, “but that was before those two girls came outside and leaned over the railing and talked to him. After he saw them a while he didn’t try to stop Graham from landing, did he?”
We had crawled as close as we dared go, and fifty feet away we could see everything that was going on in Graham’s camp. When Uncle Marvin walked up, Graham was sitting against the trunk of a cypress trying to untangle a fishing line, and the two girls were lying in hammocks that had been hung up between trees. We could not see either of them very well then, because the sides of the hammocks hid them, but the sun was shining down into the clearing and it was easy to see them when they moved or raised their arms.
Five or six cases of drinks were stacked up against one of the trees where the hammocks were, and several bottles had already been opened and tossed aside empty. Graham had a bottle of beer beside him on the ground, and every once in a while he stopped tussling with the tangled fishing line and grabbed the bottle and took several swallows from it. The dark girl, Jean, had a bottle in her hand, half full, and Marge was juggling an empty bottle in the air over her head. Everybody looked as if he was having the best time of his life.
None of them saw Uncle Marvin when he got to the clearing. Graham was busy fooling with the tangled fishing line, and Uncle Marvin stopped and looked at all three of them for almost a minute before he was noticed.
“I’ll bet Uncle Marvin takes a bottle,” Jim said. “What do you bet?”
“Preachers don’t drink beer, do they?”
“Uncle Marvin will, I’ll bet
In the middle of the afternoon Uncle Marvin woke up from his midday nap and said it was too hot to sleep any longer. We sat around for ten or fifteen minutes, nobody saying much, and after a while Uncle Marvin got up and said he thought he would walk over to the other camp and see how the people from Caruthersville, or Evansville, or wherever they came from, were getting along.
Jim and I were up and ready to go along, but he shook his head and told us to stay there. We could not help feeling that there was something unusual about that, because Uncle Marvin had always taken us with him no matter where he went when we were camping on the island. When Jim said something about going along, Uncle Marvin got excited and told us to do as he said, or we would find ourselves being sorry.
“You boys stay here and take it easy,” he said. “I’ve got to find out what kind of people they are before we start in to mix with them. They’re from up the river, and there’s no telling what they’re like till I get to know them. You boys just stay here and take it easy till I get back.”
After he had gone, we got up and picked our way through the dry underbrush toward the other camp. Jim kept urging me to hurry so we would not miss seeing anything, but I was afraid we would make so much noise Uncle Marvin would hear us and run back and catch us looking.
“Uncle Marvin didn’t tell them he’s a preacher,” Jim said. “Those girls think he’s a river captain, and I’ll bet he wants them to keep on thinking so.”
“He doesn’t look like a river captain. He looks like a preacher. Those girls were just saying that for fun.”
“The dark one acted like she’s foolish about Uncle Marvin,” Jim said. “I could tell.”
“That’s Jean,” I said.
“How do you know what their names are?”
“Didn’t you hear Graham talking to them when they were carrying their stuff off that houseboat?”
“Maybe he did,” Jim said.
“He called that one Jean, and the light one Marge.”
Jim bent down and looked through the bushes.
“Uncle Marvin’s not mad at them now for coming here to camp,” he said.
“How can you tell he’s not?” I asked Jim.
“I can tell by the way he’s acting up now.”
“He told Graham to get the houseboat away from here, didn’t he?”
“Sure he did then,” Jim whispered, “but that was before those two girls came outside and leaned over the railing and talked to him. After he saw them a while he didn’t try to stop Graham from landing, did he?”
We had crawled as close as we dared go, and fifty feet away we could see everything that was going on in Graham’s camp. When Uncle Marvin walked up, Graham was sitting against the trunk of a cypress trying to untangle a fishing line, and the two girls were lying in hammocks that had been hung up between trees. We could not see either of them very well then, because the sides of the hammocks hid them, but the sun was shining down into the clearing and it was easy to see them when they moved or raised their arms.
Five or six cases of drinks were stacked up against one of the trees where the hammocks were, and several bottles had already been opened and tossed aside empty. Graham had a bottle of beer beside him on the ground, and every once in a while he stopped tussling with the tangled fishing line and grabbed the bottle and took several swallows from it. The dark girl, Jean, had a bottle in her hand, half full, and Marge was juggling an empty bottle in the air over her head. Everybody looked as if he was having the best time of his life.
None of them saw Uncle Marvin when he got to the clearing. Graham was busy fooling with the tangled fishing line, and Uncle Marvin stopped and looked at all three of them for almost a minute before he was noticed.
“I’ll bet Uncle Marvin takes a bottle,” Jim said. “What do you bet?”
“Preachers don’t drink beer, do they?”
“Uncle Marvin will, I’ll bet
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