In time you
an' your clothes are all dry."
The man's manner was all kindness, and the poor little cabin had become
a palace. He blew at the coals, threw on dry pine knots, and in a few
minutes the flames roared up the chimney.
Harry took off his wet clothing, hung it on two cane chairs before the
fire and then proceeded to roast himself. Warmth poured back into his
body and the cold left his bones. Despite his remonstrances, Perkins
took a pot out of his cupboard and made coffee. Harry drank two cups of
it, and he knew now that the danger of chill, to be followed by fever,
was gone.
"Mr. Perkins," he said at length, "you are an angel."
Perkins laughed.
"Mebbe I air," he said, "but I 'low I don't look like one. Guess ef I
went up an' tried to j'in the real angels Gabriel would say, 'Go back,
Seth Perkins, an' improve yo'self fur four or five thousand years afore
you try to keep comp'ny like ours.' But now, Johnny Reb, sence you're
feelin' a heap better you might tell what you wuz tryin' to do, prowlin'
roun' in these woods at sech a time."
"I meant to go behind the Yankee army, see what reinforcements were
coming up, find out their plans, if I could, and report to our general.
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