CHAPTER XX A JOB

Skippy left the barge noiselessly that morning and did not return until six o'clock in the evening. Consequently, Big Joe spent a troubled day, waiting and hoping and fearing. When he saw the boy crossing the plank from the Dinky O. Cross, he hurried to the door.

"And where have ye been, Skippy?" he called anxiously. "Here and ye been havin'