He didn't know just what he ought to do and I guess he was scared to go up to your house because he didn't have any good clothes.

So he ran down through the marshes and waited at the landing, because he knew Jake Holden would be coming up stream.

Jake's one good friend to him, and he often took him out and he wasn't afraid of Jake.
"Pretty soon he heard Jake's boat coming up the river and saw the light and he just waited there and when Jake come up alongside the float, the first thing Skinny heard him say was, Roy Blakeley is dead--didn't you, Skinny ?" But I could see that Skinny's eyes were shut now and he didn't hear.
"Go on," I said.

"So Skinny told him it wasn't true, and told him about the signal.

Jake didn't pay much attention because he thought Skinny was just a little crazy on account of being so poor and hungry and all that and not having a good home.