Part 2

"You'll do nothin' of the kind, Eliakim Doak, an' that I'm tellin' you for a fact. I've allowed you to come across here rather'n have an up an' down row; but even if you got your hands on the boy you shouldn't take him away, an' that you can count on. As for stoppin' ashore here any length of time, that's for me to say. So long as I pay the rent, this 'ere island is my private property, an' if you're on it an hour from this time I'll bring suit agin you for trespass as sure as my name's Ben Johnson!"

"I'm allowin' to do pretty nigh as I please," Captain Doak cried in a rage, and Uncle Ben replied in a placid tone as he turned to retrace his steps:

"'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', Eliakim, you're makin' the biggest kind of a mistake, an' I'm goin' to take the trouble to prove it before another half hour goes over our heads."

The lobster catcher was some distance on his way to the opposite shore before he ceased speaking, and then, peering cautiously out from behind the rock, Tom could see that the master of the "Sally D." was decidedly disturbed in mind, for he stood irresolutely, shifting from one foot to the other as if uncertain exactly what course to pursue.

"What can your Uncle Ben do if the cap'en turns real rusty?" Tom asked in the softest of whispers, and Sam replied with a sigh of anxiety:

"It seems to me as if he can't do anythin', for there's nobody else on the island."

"Well, he's made a right good bluff of it, anyway, an' has got this pirate of yours guessin' mighty hard," Tom whispered in a tone of satisfaction, after which he turned his attention to spying upon the commander of the "Sally D."

*CHAPTER III*

*WAR DECLARED*

Captain Eliakim Doak remained as if in deep thought for several moments after Uncle Ben left him with what, from such a placid man as the old lobster catcher, was a most emphatic threat. Bluster as he might, and even Deacon Stubbs had been heard to say that the commander of the "Sally D." was stronger at blustering than he was at fighting, he understood full well that it would be in the power of Uncle Ben to make matters very inconvenient, if not absolutely disagreeable for him.

As a matter of course Uncle Ben as the owner or lessee of the island had no right to forbid vessels to anchor in the coves; but it was for him to say who should be permitted to come ashore, and the fisherman who could not take aboard his water supply from this particular place would be put to great inconvenience. Until to-day Uncle Ben had welcomed any who pleased to visit the island, and was ever ready to lend a hand when it was needed, therefore it can readily be seen that for business reasons, if for no other, Captain Doak could not well afford to seriously offend the old lobster catcher.

The question to be decided in Captain Doak's mind was as to which would be the greater loss, Sam's services, which did not cost him anything in the way of money, or Uncle Ben's friendship, which really meant the shutting out of Apple Island's conveniences from the "Sally D." and her commander.

It was evident that Captain Doak decided he could get along without the lobster catcher's friendship better than he could the cook to whom he paid nothing, for after a brief time of hesitation and thought he said sufficiently loud to be heard by those who were hiding behind the rocks:

"If that old lobster thinks I'm dependin' on him for fresh water, he'll soon find he's mistaken, an' as for his standin' up with Sam agin me, I'll let him know that it's a job he'd better not tackle!"

Then, as if having forgotten that he had crossed the island in search of the runaway, Captain Doak followed rapidly in Uncle Ben's footsteps, and Sam whispered to his new-made friend:

"There's goin' to be a big row now for sure. The cap'en has got his back up, an' I'm afraid Uncle Ben will get the worst of it."

"It kinder strikes me that we're bound to take a hand in it, 'cordin' to all you've said 'bout both of 'em," Tom replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "If your boss gets the upper hand things are likely to be warm for you, so the play is to put in what licks we can for the other one."

"We couldn't do anything!" Sam exclaimed with a long-drawn sigh. "Cap'en Doak would chew us all up before we'd even winked."

"I ain't so certain of that. I've never seen a row yet, an' I've been mixed up with a lot of 'em in my day, when a boy didn't have a chance to make considerable of a showin', if he was willin' to pitch in. Come on before it's too late! Your boss has got inter the bushes by this time an' won't be likely to know what we're up to if we keep our wits about us."

Sam, not believing it would be possible to lend aid to Uncle Ben, and not eager to come any nearer his stepfather than might be absolutely necessary, would have refused to leave his place of concealment, but Tom had stepped out from behind the rocks as he spoke, setting off at once in the same direction as that taken by Captain Doak.

"Keep close behind me an' I'll show you how to work a trick or two," Tom said, as if to show that he had taken command of the party, and then he walked at such a rapid pace that Sam could not have taken the lead even had he been so disposed.

It was not difficult to follow the commander of the "Sally D." without attracting his attention; the threat made by Uncle Ben had aroused Captain Doak's anger to such an extent that he appeared to have forgotten Sam entirely.

Until the angry fisherman had passed through the thicket Tom kept reasonably close to his heels, but when he came out into the open, on the slope which led to the cove, it became necessary for the boys to hang back until quite a distance in the rear. Therefore, when he turned sharply to the left around the shed in which Uncle Ben stored his fuel, the lads no longer had him in view.

In order to advance with the least danger of being seen Tom had made a wide detour to gain the shelter of a stack of lobster-pots, with no idea in mind that there was any necessity for moving rapidly. But suddenly he heard the voice of Captain Doak, raised high as if in anger.

"Now there will be a row, an' if we don't take a hand Uncle Ben is bound to get the worst of it!" Sam cried, as he urged Tom forward by gripping his arm firmly. "Come on! We've got to help Uncle Ben!"

His own fears were forgotten in the desire to aid the old man who had been so kind to him.

The boys arrived on the scene at the exact moment when their services were most needed by Uncle Ben, for the master of the "Sally D.," apparently half crazed by anger, was rushing toward the lobster catcher with clenched fists.

"I reckon here's where we get our work in!" Tom cried, as if delighted by the evidences of trouble, and catching up the first missile that came to his hand, which proved to be a lobster-pot buoy, with a half-inch rope made fast to one end, he ran between the two men, swinging the heavy weapon in a threatening manner.

So blinded by his rage was Captain Doak that he apparently did not see the newcomers until Sam, armed with a heavy stake, pressed close by the side of his friend, and then, suddenly recognizing the truant cook, the commander of the "Sally D." sprang forward to seize him.

"None of that, or I'll let this 'ere buoy come agin your head!" Tom cried threateningly. He swung his improvised weapon yet more vigorously, and Captain Doak fell back a few paces, for a single blow from the heavy missile would have inflicted a serious wound.

"Why didn't you stay in the bushes?" Uncle Ben asked sharply of Sam, and before the latter could reply Captain Doak shouted:

"Get aboard the schooner, you young idler, an' when I've settled with this Ben Johnson I'll 'tend to your case in sich a way that you won't try to give me the slip ag'in!"

"He'll stay where he is! An' if you raise your hand against him we'll see what the law can do toward makin' you pay over to the lad the money what belongs to him from the sellin' of his mother's house!" Uncle Ben cried, as he pulled Sam toward him, at the same time looking in bewilderment at Tom, as if wondering where he had dropped from.

Angry though Captain Doak was, he could understand without too great a mental effort that the odds were against him.

"If you think you can carry matters with sich a high hand, Ben Johnson, keep on tryin', an' before you're many days older I'll show you what claim I've got on that idle, worthless Sam. You've run agin the wrong man when you tackle me, an' I'll straighten out things on this 'ere island if I never wet another line this season."

"An' I'm tellin' you, Eliakim Doak, that you shall answer to the law for trespass. I've warned you off this place, an' you've stayed to threaten, so it's time I found out who's master here," Uncle Ben replied, his face pale with anger, but his voice calm and low.

Just for one moment Captain Doak lingered, as if to decide whether there was yet a possibility of his overcoming the small army opposed to him, and then, shaking his fist in impotent rage, he walked slowly away to where the "Sally D.'s" dory lay with her bow on the beach.

Uncle Ben followed slowly, the boys trailing on behind him, and not until the fisherman had pulled off to the schooner was any word spoken by those on the island. Then the old lobster catcher said with a sigh, which might have been one of regret:

"I've lived here nigh to thirty years, off an' on, an' this is the first time I've had a hard word with man or boy. I reckon Eliakim an' I have declared war now, though, an' it stands me in hand to keep my weather eye open, for he ain't the kind of a man who's given to fair fightin'." Then, turning suddenly upon Sam, he asked, pointing toward Tom, "Where did that lad come from, an' what made you try to take a hand in the row?"

"We couldn't stand still an' see Cap'en Doak jump on you," Sam replied quickly, and then, in the fewest possible words, he told of Tom's rescue, giving to himself very little credit for what had been done in the way of saving life.

"It begins to look as if the good Lord was bound I should carry out the plan I've been turnin' over in my mind these many years," Uncle Ben said slowly, as if thinking aloud, and when Sam asked for an explanation of the words he added: "Get inter the shanty, lads; there's no good reason why you should stay outside here where the sight of you will only make Eliakim Doak worse. We'll talk this over later, when we've got more time. Now it stands me in hand to make ready for a trip to town."

"To town, Uncle Ben!" Sam cried as if in alarm. "If you go while the 'Sally D.' is layin' here, Cap'en Doak will come ashore an' serve me out terribly."

"I'm allowin' the two of us could make it mighty hot for him if he tried any funny business," Tom interrupted, and from the tone of his voice one would have said that it would give him no little pleasure to try conclusions with the commander of the "Sally D."

"I shan't go away while that schooner is anchored off here," Uncle Ben said decidedly. "What's more, I'm grieved that I've let my temper get the best of me, even though Eliakim did threaten. Howsomever, it stands me in hand to take the consequences, which are that I must go to town after riggin' up some kind of a plan so's to make sure of findin' you lads here when I get back."

"Is it because of your plan that you're goin', Uncle Ben?" Sam asked as if in doubt as to whether he had the right to raise such a question.

"No, lad, I've got to go, seein's how I allowed to bring suit agin Eliakim Doak for trespass, an' it won't do to break my word now. Besides, if I don't do something of the kind, there's no tellin' how far that man may dare to go for the sake of gettin' his hands on you once more, which is what I'm goin' to prevent. My plan can be talked over after we've settled down peaceably, so to speak, though it does really seem as if it was workin' itself out with no help from me."

"I don't believe that the cap'en cares very much about the law, an' I'm expectin' he'll keep on raisin' a row till I just have to go back to the 'Sally D.,'" Sam said, with a long-drawn sigh, and Uncle Ben replied almost sharply:

"I'm allowin' that he hasn't cared much for the law back along, else he wouldn't have dared to sell your home an' put the money inter his own pocket; but it'll go hard if I can't bring him 'round to respectin' what the court says shall be done. It seems as if I was goin' back on all the principles I've held to by gettin' inter law at my time of life; but it's too late to draw out now, for neither he nor any other man shall hector a boy same's he's been hectorin' you."

Then Uncle Ben went into the shanty as if to make preparations for departure, while Sam and Tom stood watching the movements of the two men who could be seen moving about on the deck of the "Sally D.," and Tom finally asked:

"Who's the other feller?"

"Rube Rowe; he's a real good man, an' has told me more than once that he wouldn't sail in the 'Sally D.' if it wasn't that Cap'en Doak pays him better wages than he could get on any other craft. You see, it ain't easy to find decent fishermen who'll sail with a man like him," and he waved his hand in the direction of Captain Doak, "so he has to give good money, or go without."

"Would Rube Rowe do anything to hurt you?"

"Don't reckon he'd think there was anythin' wrong in draggin' me aboard the schooner, if the cap'en said to, 'cause he's my stepfather, an' a good many people believe I'm bound to hang right by him. If it hadn't been for Uncle Ben I'd never so much as thought of runnin' away, an' perhaps it would have been better if I hadn't started, 'cause he'll make it mighty warm for me if he ever gets me aboard the schooner."

"You'll be a softy if he does get a hold on you after all that's been done. I'd like to see the fisherman who could haul me away from this island if Uncle Ben had allowed I might stay with him. It's time your old schooner got under way."

"I'm afraid Cap'en Doak won't leave till he's had one more whack at me," Sam replied sorrowfully and then, turning abruptly, he made his way to the shanty that he might take counsel with Uncle Ben.

*CHAPTER IV*

*A MATTER OF BUSINESS*

When the boys entered the shanty the old lobster catcher was putting on his oilskins, and Sam said in surprise:

"I thought you counted on goin' over to town, Uncle Ben?"

"That's what I've got in my mind, lad, seein's there don't seem to be anythin' else that's pressin'; but I ain't reckonin' on leavin' while the 'Sally D.' is layin' here at anchor, for it would be much the same as invitin' Eliakim Doak to come ashore an' yank you off. But business is business. No matter how big a row we may have on hand the pots are to be hauled if we count on gettin' a livin', an' seein's how I've got three mouths to feed, it stands me in hand to look sharp after our bread an' butter."

"What shall Tom an' I be doin' while you're gone?"

"Doin'? Why, I was allowin' you'd bear a hand, same's decent lads oughter. If you two have gone inter partnership with me, it kinder looks as if you was needin' to get the hang of the ropes, so to speak."

"Is Tom to stay here on Apple Island with us?" Sam asked in surprise and delight.

"Where else can he stay? 'Cordin' to his story he ain't never known any more of a home than you've had since your mother died, an' seein's how you hauled him ashore, it looks as if we was in duty bound to take care of him, though, of course, it's for him to say if he wants to stay."

"That's what I want to do, if you'll have me!" said Tom, who had overheard the conversation as he entered the single room which served as kitchen, dining-room, bedchamber and parlor. "I ain't soft enough to allow you'll keep me 'round jest so's you'll have somethin' pretty to look at, so if you'll kinder show me how it's done, I'll tackle my share of the work."

"That's the way I like to hear a lad talk," Uncle Ben said approvingly. "I don't allow that I'm needin' two mates, seein's how the work ain't rushin'; but since you're both needin' a home, why it stands to reason that you oughter help run things the best you know how. We'll haul the pots, an' before that's been done I'm allowin' Eliakim Doak will get the 'Sally D.' under way. If he does, there'll be nothin' to prevent my goin' to town an' findin' out 'bout how I stand with the law when I set myself agin sich authority as a mighty poor stepfather has over a boy."

Then the old man, having put on his oilskins, led the way out of the shanty toward the dory, which lay high up on the beach, and Tom said in a whisper:

"Tell me how you go to work haulin' lobster-pots? I don't want to make sich a bloomin' chump of myself at the first go-off that your Uncle Ben won't have me hangin' 'round, 'cause it strikes me that this is a mighty nice kind of a place in which to live."

"You'll see how it's done when the first pot comes up, an' after that you won't have to ask any questions. All you an' I have to do is row the dory, an' I reckon you can keep up that end of the work if you could go out runnin' trawls before daylight."

"If that's all he wants, I'll pull the bottom out of the dory, an' what's more, do it alone."

"It'll be a long stretch before we get 'round to all the pots, so you needn't jump to it so hard," Sam replied with a smile, which died quickly away from his face as he heard the captain of the "Sally D." hailing Uncle Ben, for by this time the old fisherman had come on the beach directly opposite where the shabby schooner lay at anchor.

"Don't be too brash, Ben Johnson, or you may find your neck so far inter a noose that you can't easy get it out ag'in. It's a serious matter to interfere 'twixt a lad an' them as has authority over him, as you'll come to know if you don't go slow!"

"I reckon there's little need for your cautionin', Eliakim Doak," Uncle Ben replied placidly. "I've been turnin' this ere thing over in my mind ever since William Mansfield told me how you'd been usin' the boy. If you want to see what the law's got to say 'bout it, that'll jest suit me, 'cause I'm countin' on knowin' what Sammy's rights are before we're many days older. I'm no kith or kin to him, but count it my duty, if nobody else is willin' to take up the matter, to see that he has what's comin' to him in this world."

"I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Captain Doak cried in a rage, and then, much to Sam's relief of mind, he went into the "Sally D.'s" cabin very quickly, as if he had most important business there.

"Eliakim can bark right smart, but I reckon we needn't have much fear of his bite," Uncle Ben said, as he stood by the bow of the dory waiting for the boys to lend him a hand in launching her.

Five minutes later, the old lobster catcher and his small family were afloat, heading, with Sam and Tom each pulling a pair of oars, toward the nearest tiny buoy which marked the location of the first pot to be hauled.

Now, as a matter of fact, there isn't anything particularly exciting in hauling on a long wet rope until the cage-like lobster-pot is brought to the surface; but Tom was intensely interested in the operation so often repeated before the day's work had come to an end. Perhaps it was because he felt a certain eagerness to know how great a catch would be taken, and, perhaps, he was anxious to master all the details in the shortest possible space of time, so that he might be of real assistance to the old man who was offering him what he never remembered of having before in his life--a home.

When twenty or more pots had been hauled in, the marketable lobsters thrown into the dory, while the small ones were tossed overboard to grow a little more, and the pots baited again with fresh fish, Tom insisted on being allowed to do his full share of the work.

"It ain't more'n loafin' to row from one buoy to another, an' there's no reason why I couldn't bear a hand, now I've seen how it's done," he said eagerly, and after some faint protest, Uncle Ben took up the lad's oars, as he said with a laugh:

"Have your own way, sonny, though the work is a bit heavier than you are counting on. If you two boys are reckonin' on helpin' me build up a family, I allow the sooner you break in at lobsterin' the better. Sammy here knows what little there is to be knowed about it, an' if you get inter the job in good shape there won't be anythin' for me to do 'cept dodder 'round ashore while you earn the livin'."

"I wish that could be the way of it, Uncle Ben!" Sam exclaimed earnestly, and then the conversation came to an end, as Tom made his first effort to catch the mooring rope of a buoy with the short gaff while the dory was gliding swiftly past the small target. It is not strange that he failed at the first attempt, for it requires no little deftness with a gaff to "hook on," and it was necessary for the oarsmen to back the dory here and there until the lad had the rope in his hands.

"Well," he would laugh, "I didn't make any great fist at it that time, for a fact; but it can't take sich a dreadful long time before I get the hang of it, an' when I do, this part of the work shall be my job."

And Tom did "break in" even sooner than Uncle Ben expected. Before he had brought half a dozen pots to the surface it was as if he had had considerable experience in such tasks, and Uncle Ben said approvingly:

"I declare for it, Tom, you're goin' to be a keen hand at catchin' lobsters! You handle them pots easier than I could do it, an' if so be I'm called on to stop at Southport over night, I'll know that you an' Sam can 'tend to the work as well as if I was here to do the bossin'."

Tom's eyes glistened with pleasure because of the praise; but Sam's face lengthened perceptibly at the possibility that Uncle Ben might be away from the island more than a few hours.

It was not yet two o'clock in the afternoon when all the pots had been hauled, emptied, re-baited and set again. The catch, consisting of twenty-two marketable lobsters, was thrown into the floating cage, called by the fishermen a "car," and Uncle Ben and his family were ashore once more.

"Now, if you lads will lend a hand at launchin' the keel-boat I'll get under way for Southport," the old man said as he pulled off his oilskins by way of "dressing" for the voyage. "I've got a fair wind across; but if so be it hasn't shifted long 'bout sunset, I'll stop over night with William Mansfield, rather than tackle the job of rowin' a heavy boat so far."

"But what about Cap'en Doak?" Sam asked, thinking of his stepfather for the first time since Tom had begun the work of "breaking in" at the work of lobster catching. Then he looked quickly around, but the "Sally D." no longer remained at anchor in the cove.

"Eliakim has made up his mind that it won't be safe for him to have any truck with the law after skinnin' you out of your mother's house, an' I reckon he won't show his head on Apple Island ag'in, 'specially after he hears 'bout what I've done--an' you can make up your mind that everybody in Southport will go out of their way to let him know I've been talkin' with the 'Squire, as I count on doin' before you see me ag'in."

"But suppose he should come back to hunt for me?" and now Sam's fears arose so high that it was with difficulty he could control his voice sufficiently to speak in an ordinary tone.