Part 6

"I know full well you can, Reuben, an' I'm glad to have you with us. We'll build up a place here on Apple Island that a man can take pride in, an' it'll help mightily to have you join us; but remember, when you have an itchin' to get out with the rest of the world, don't be backward in speakin' right out."

Mr. Rowe seemed to think it necessary to shake hands all round in token of having thus been made a member of the "family," and, this done in the gravest manner possible, he set about dragging his chest into the shanty that he might make himself more fully at home expiating to Sam in the meanwhile that all he owned was there.

"I'm here bag an' baggage, lad, an' mighty glad to be settled down for the first time since I can remember."

That noon Sam cooked dinner, making a regular feast with roasted lobsters, fried fish and something which looked considerably like an apple pie, although the cook modestly confessed that he had not had "real good luck with it."

The remainder of the day was spent catching cunners to be used as bait for the lobster traps; mending some of the old pots, and putting tar on the seams of the dory. Mr. Rowe worked as if the labor was sport, and Uncle Ben no sooner tried his hand at this thing or that, than one of his "family" insisted on doing it, until the old man said with a laugh of content:

"I declare it does seem as if all hands were bent on drivin' me outer business. I've allers been able to putter 'round with nobody to help, an' it comes a little odd not to be allowed to so much as raise a finger."

"Your part is to do hard work, bossin' the rest of us, Uncle Ben," Mr. Rowe said cheerily. "There ain't so much to be done but that the boys an' me can get through it without half tryin', an' it's time you did a little loafin' so's to see how it seems."

During the afternoon Uncle Ben's family fully expected Captain Doak would return with a steamer to pull the "Sally D." from her resting place in the sand, and when night came without any sign from the owner of the schooner, Mr. Rowe said, with an air of concern:

"I declare I ain't hankerin' for a sight of Eliakim; but I do wish he'd show up with a tug, for the longer the schooner lays here the more it will cost to get her off. Give her one week, with a southerly wind blowin', as is likely at this season of the year, an' she'll be smothered in sand."

"It's goin' to be a big job at the best to get her off, seein's she took the ground at chock high water," Uncle Ben added, as if talking to himself; "but it'll cost more'n she's worth, if the work ain't begun mighty soon."

"How much do you allow she's worth?" Tom asked, and one might have thought he had it in his mind to buy her, so serious and businesslike was his air.

"Wa'al, I allow she'd fetch seven or eight hundred dollars afloat, an' not half that where she lays," Uncle Ben replied as he looked at the stranded schooner critically. "She must be fifteen or sixteen years old, which ain't much if she'd had proper care; but Eliakim has allowed her to run down terribly these last two seasons. Look at her! Oakum hangin' out of her seams like yarn in a frayed stockin', an' you never could tell by the hull what color she was painted last."

"If Eliakim wanted to sell her as she lays, I'm allowin' he couldn't get four hundred cash, an' yet it wouldn't take so many dollars to put her in good fair trim. I'd like to own her, high an' dry as she is," Mr. Rowe said thoughtfully.

"But how would you get her into the water?" Tom asked curiously.

"I'd leave her where she is till I'd got her lookin' somethin' like a vessel, shorin' her up so's she wouldn't really bury herself, an' then I'd risk the launchin' part of it. She must be nigh full of water by this time, for she leaks a good bit around the stern-post."

"Wa'al, we can't do any good by settin' here chinnin'," Uncle Ben said abruptly as he rose to his feet. "If this 'ere family is to be kept from starvin' we'd best turn in, so's to be ready for a good day's work to-morrow."

Sam was the first to "turn out" next morning, as was his duty since he had taken upon himself the task of cook, and he had no more than opened the door than the sleepers were startled into wakefulness by hearing him cry:

"Cap'en Doak has come back; but he's alone, an' it don't look as if he was goin' to do anythin' toward floatin' the 'Sally,' for he's sittin' on the sand smokin'."

"Most likely he's waitin' for the steamer to come," Uncle Ben said, as he made a hurried toilet. "If so be he's got things ready for the launchin' of her, we must all bear a hand."

"Are you goin' to help him after what he's tried to do against you?" Tom asked in surprise, and the old man replied in a decided tone:

"That goes without sayin', lad. It's no reason why we should be brutes because he makes a beast of himself at times. If there's anythin' we can do to help another in trouble, I'm hopin' we'll be ready to do it, without stoppin' to reckon up whether he's in our debt."

Then Uncle Ben went rapidly toward the commander of the stranded schooner, and Tom Falonna, eager to hear what might be said, followed close at his heels; but neither Sam nor Mr. Rowe showed any desire to have an interview with Captain Doak.

"Wa'al, Eliakim, are you countin' on havin' a steamer over here to pull the 'Sally' off?" Uncle Ben asked cheerily, and Captain Doak replied in a surly tone:

"Whether I am or not is none of your affairs, Ben Johnson, an' I'll thank you to keep your nose outer my business or there'll be considerable trouble sich as won't be pleasant."

"Now, see here, Eliakim," and Uncle Ben spoke in a most friendly tone, apparently giving no heed to the ill-natured words, "I ain't countin' on meddlin' with you an' yours more'n I already have, an' what I did was somethin' that you brought on yourself. Now if we can give you a lift in floatin' the 'Sally,' we wanter do it, as neighbors should."

"I've seen your tracks at the Port, so let me tell you, Ben Johnson, that if I couldn't launch the 'Sally' without your help, I'd leave her to rot where she is!"

Uncle Ben was not so thick-headed but he could understand that it would be worse than useless to attempt to hold friendly converse with Captain Doak while he was in such a humor, therefore he went slowly back to the shanty, looking as if in deep distress.

"I hope he'll never get her off!" Tom cried angrily when he and the old man were so far from the captain that there could be no danger his words would be heard by the owner of the schooner. "He acts like a great big chump!"

"There's no call to say anythin' harsh, Tom," Uncle Ben said reprovingly. "He allers used to be a pleasant-spoken man till he got into bad habits. I reckon he'll be glad of our help before he finishes the job that's to be done, an' when that time comes we'll turn to jest as willin'ly as if he'd shown himself to be the best friend we ever had. I'm hopin', lad, that this 'ere family I'm tryin' to get together will allers do as they'd be done by, for it's the one mighty good rule in this world."

*CHAPTER XI*

*"FOR SALE"*

Although Uncle Ben appeared so ready to find excuses for Captain Doak's surliness, Tom Falonna was not disposed to let the matter drop, as if it were no more than an ordinary incident, but, on his return to the shanty, told Mr. Rowe and Sam of the meeting, and what had passed between the two men, adding in conclusion:

"'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', there's sich a thing as bein' too good for this 'ere world, an' that's what's ailin' Uncle Ben. What he oughter done was to up an' hit that pirate a clip under the ear, so's to give him a lesson in manners. I only wish his schooner had to lay there on the sand till I lent a hand toward gettin' her off! You can bet real money that she'd rot there!"

"After all that's been done an' said, I ain't got it in my heart to do a friendly turn for Eliakim Doak," Mr. Rowe added thoughtfully. "I'd heard considerable 'bout him before I agreed to fish aboard the 'Sally D.' this season; but I never allowed he, nor any other man for that matter, could be so downright mean an' ugly as he'd showed hisself. I'd had it in mind to leave him the very minute I could get some little part of what was due me for wages; but when Sam stirred up things, I come to believe that dollars didn't count very big when it meant stayin' aboard the schooner any longer. My biggest hope now is that he'll float her mighty sudden, for the sooner that's been done the quicker we'll get rid of him."

"It won't seem as if we'd really been made over inter a family till he has left the island for good an' all," Sam said emphatically, as he straightened up from his work of frying fish to look over his shoulder apprehensively toward the beach. "It's dead certain he'll be on the watch for a chance to get hold of me once more, no matter how much Uncle Ben threatens, an' I'll have cold chills just so long as he hangs 'round here."

"Don't let Eliakim fret you, Sammy," Uncle Ben, who had entered the shanty in time to hear the conclusion of the lad's remark, said placidly as he seated himself at the breakfast table. "I cut his claws when I went to the Port, an' he knows he'd get inter mighty deep water with the law by interferin' in your affairs."

Uncle Ben, understanding that such conversation only served to increase Sam's fears regarding what the owner of the "Sally D." might do, hastened to change the subject by outlining the labors of the day:

"I reckon we may as well get at the old pots, to put 'em in shape agin winter weather. Now we've started out as a reg'lar family, it stands us in hand to have some rule 'bout the day's work. It strikes me that if Eliakim is goin' to loaf 'round here, as seems to be his idee, I'd better stop ashore to keep him down where he belongs. So s'posen all hands turn to an' bring the traps up here where I can find 'em handy? When that's been done, the lobsterin' crew better get onto their job. If they have as good luck as came to 'em yesterday, it'll be a case of carryin' a cargo to the Port mighty soon."

Sam, at this point, put an end to the conversation by setting before the hungry family the results of his labor as cook, and during the next ten minutes all hands were actively engaged "puttin' in a stomach linin'," as Uncle Ben expressed it.

Immediately the meal was finished Mr. Rowe and Tommy set about bringing up the pots which needed repairs, while Sam washed the dishes and otherwise put the shanty to rights. Uncle Ben lost no time in beginning his portion of the work, and while the "family" were thus as industrious as bees, Captain Doak sat on the beach sulkily smoking his pipe.

"I declare, Sammy, I can't make out what Eliakim's got on his mind," the old lobster catcher said, after getting well settled down to his task of knitting new heads for the traps. "It don't look as if he counted on doin' anythin' toward gettin' the 'Sally' outer the sand, an' yet he must have some scheme in his mind."

"P'rhaps he's waitin' to get hold of me," the amateur cook suggested timidly.

"Then he's wastin' his time, for a fact. You'll be out in the dory with Reuben an' Tommy the best part of the day, an' I'll go bail he can't do you any harm there. When you get back, the family will all be close at your heels, so however evil-minded he may be, Eliakim won't be able to spin a thread."

"If so be the cook is done putterin' 'round, we'll look after the pots!" Mr. Rowe called cheerily from the outside as he and Tommy brought up the last load of traps, and Sam replied to what might be considered as an invitation, by hurrying out of the shanty.

When the three launched Uncle Ben's dory in order to begin the real work of the day Captain Doak yet remained where Sam had first seen him that morning, and, so far as could be told, he gave no heed whatever when the lads and his mutinous "crew" passed to and fro near him.

"Do you allow he might be thinkin' of tryin' to get square with Uncle Ben?" Tommy asked in a whisper when the dory was some little distance from the shore on her way to the nearest trap, and Mr. Rowe replied confidently:

"Don't get any sich a notion as that down, lad. Eliakim is sober enough now to realize that he'd be gettin' inter the worst kind of hot water if he tried any funny games with the old man, 'specially after we would swear he was the only outsider left on the island when we pushed off. He couldn't count on doin' any mischief with the idee that nobody would know who'd done it. I reckon he's hard up for cash to hire help in floatin' the schooner, an' havin' nothin' else to do, is kinder watchin' the craft, with a crazy belief that she may slide off'er the sand without waitin' for help."

Then the dory was over the first trap, and Tom, who insisted on serving a thorough apprenticeship at the business, was picking up the buoy rope with the gaff, doing it "uncommonly handy-like," as Mr. Rowe said approvingly.

The "take" was not as large as on the day previous, but yet they found marketable lobsters enough to satisfy any save the most avaricious, and when finally the dory was pulled around the southern point of the island on her way to the car, where the results of the day's work were to be left, Mr. Rowe said exultantly:

"I reckon the family have earned their keep an' a leetle more this day. With lobsters fetchin' eighteen cents apiece wholesale we've scooped in good wages. But wait till Uncle Ben gets a schooner! Then you lads will be jumpin' to in good earnest. What with saltin' down, runnin' fresh fish inter market, an' 'tendin' to the traps, it won't be any very idle lives you'll be leadin'."

"Knockin' 'round here don't seem like real work," Master Falonna replied, in a tone of content. "But even if it was the hardest kind of a job we'd feel like bucklin' down in great shape, so long as we're workin' to make a home for the family. Hello! It looks as if Cap'en Doak had gone at last! I can't see his dory anywhere!"

"What's that white thing on the 'Sally's' hull?" Mr. Rowe asked, curiously, turning in his seat to make certain Tommy was not mistaken as to the absence of the unwelcome visitor.

Neither of the lads could even make a guess as to the correct reply. They could see a small square of white on the hull of the stranded vessel, and it had, from a distance, the appearance of a sheet of paper; but since it was not probable Captain Doak would have taken the trouble to fasten anything of the kind on the "Sally," it seemed reasonable to suppose that something had been blown against the timbers by the wind, as Tommy suggested carelessly.

When the lobsters had been thrown into the car and the fishermen were nearing the beach, Uncle Ben came out of the shanty to meet them, and as the boat's bow struck the sand he cried, showing signs of nervous excitement for perhaps the first time in his life:

"Do you see that 'ere?" and he pointed to the square of white which had already attracted Mr. Rowe's attention.

"Ay; what is it?" Reuben asked carelessly as he leaped over the gunwale into the water to aid in carrying the dory beyond reach of the tide.

"It's a notice sayin' that the 'Sally D.' will be sold at auction as she lays, this day week," Uncle Ben replied with yet more show of excitement, and Mr. Rowe said curiously:

"Sold at auction, eh? So that's what Eliakim came over here for so early, eh? Sellin' her as she lays! Does that mean he believes she can't be floated?"

"I dunno; he wouldn't make any talk to me 'bout it. After you left I tried to be neighborly--asked him to come inter the shanty an' have a cup of coffee; but I might jest as well have invited a ragin' hyena. He made a good deal of rough talk, mixin' in some threats, an' after a spell tacked up that paper. Sold as she lays this day week! I'm allowin' he couldn't raise the money to hire a tug, an' kinder figgered that the season wouldn't 'mount to much, now that he had lost his crew an' the cook, so he's countin' on goin' outer the business. How much do you reckon she'll fetch, Reuben?"

"Wa'al, the 'Sally' ain't any slouch of a schooner," Mr. Rowe said slowly and thoughtfully, as if giving due weight to the subject; "but neither is she so very young, an' it'll need a power of fixin' to put her inter what you might call first-class shape, for I'm doubtin' if Eliakim has spent a dollar on her these last five years. Then ag'in, she'll be mighty deep in the sand by this day week, an' the tides won't be runnin' so high. Take it all in all, Eliakim will come out mighty well if he gets four hundred dollars, though if I had twice as much ag'in, an' lived here on the island, I'd allow it would be a good bargain to offer it."

"How much will it cost for a tug to pull her off?"

"Wa'al, that's as may be. It ain't any ways certain it could be done in two days, or even four, an' I allow there ain't a man 'round here who'd take the job less'n a couple of hundred, with the chances of not finishin' it even then. But it wouldn't be any steamer for me, if I owned the schooner an' lived here."

"How would you go about it?" Uncle Ben asked quickly, and with no slight show of eagerness.

"First an' foremost, I'd get out five or six of the biggest trees on this 'ere island, an' peel off the bark so's they'd answer for ways. Then I'd start in when the tide was goin', an' dig along one side till I'd made sich a slope that she'd reg'larly fall inter it--after I had the timbers fixed jest right. Then it would be more of a job to get her shored up on the other side; but it could be done if time didn't count for too much.";

"I dunno as I jest catch your meanin', Reuben," Uncle Ben said in perplexity, and Mr. Rowe replied with a laugh:

"I don't reckon as I've made it very plain; but the thing is mapped out all right in my head. I've been thinkin' 'bout it ever since the 'Sally' run her nose inter that sand, an' am willin' to agree that I could do it with the crew that's here, in less'n six weeks. Of course, if a man had to hire them as was needed to help him, keepin' 'em 'round loafin' when the tide was so high that the work couldn't be done, it would cost a pile of money; but put this 'ere family at the job, an' it would be easy."

"An' you'd be willin' to pay eight hundred dollars for her, eh?"

"Look here, Uncle Ben," and Mr. Rowe wheeled to look the old man suspiciously in the face. "You aint pumpin' me jest for the sake of talkin', an' that I'll bet on! What have yer got in your noddle?"

"Wa'al, Reuben, to tell the truth I've been wonderin' if this 'ere wasn't our chance to get a schooner for what little money we've got to spend. When I talked 'bout goin' inter fishin', I allowed it might be possible to buy a small craft at a song, 'specially if she was so old that it wouldn't be safe to take her to the Banks. But here's the 'Sally'; we know what she is--looks worse'n she really is, an' a craft that would serve our turn to a hair. I've got eight hundred dollars, an' that's about all----"

"Take my word for it, Uncle Ben, you won't have to put half of it out to get her!" Mr. Rowe cried excitedly, while Sam and Tommy shook hands with each other as their way of showing approbation of the old man's scheme. "She's worth a good five hundred more to you, than to any other man, 'cause you can float her so much cheaper'n a fellow could who had to hire a crew for the work. Jest say that you'll be willin' to spend four hundred, an' I'll figger my plan out so plain that it can be understood, an' prove that we needn't pay a cent for steamers or men."

"I would believe the Lord had put it inter Eliakim's head to sell her in order that we might have a vessel of our own, if she could be bought at that price," Uncle Ben replied emphatically, and that he had been considering the matter in all its bearings, was shown when he added: "If we didn't have to pay more than you allow, then I'd have enough left to put her inter good sailin' trim, for she needs a thorough overhaulin'."

"Now look here, Uncle Ben," and Mr. Rowe spoke with so much earnestness as to be impressive, "you can take my word for it that she's jest the same as yours this very minute, though if you take my advice, you'll get somebody at the Port to bid her in to you, 'cause I've got an idea that Eliakim wouldn't let you have her if he could help himself. Buy the schooner, an' if I can't get her afloat without askin' you to spend a cent of money, I'll sign articles to work for you without wages, till I'm as old as Methusalem!"

*CHAPTER XII*

*SHIPOWNERS*

It is only reasonable to suppose that the crew of the dory, after having been at work nearly all day at the oars or hauling in the wet ropes of the lobster traps, were ravenously hungry, and yet never one of them gave a thought to food because of the excitement which possessed all at the mere suggestion that it might be possible for them soon to become shipowners.

The family was, as Uncle Ben afterward expressed it, "all mixed up," and night had fully come before the first move was made toward going into the shanty. Mr. Rowe insisted on showing exactly how he would set at work to get the "Sally D." on ways from which she could readily be launched after the necessary repairs had been made, and drew diagrams in the sand until that portion of the beach looked as if an immense flock of sea-gulls had been promenading to and fro.

The result of all the conversation and discussion was that Uncle Ben finally said in a decisive tone:

"I'll agree to buy her as she lays, if the price don't go over five hundred dollars. There ain't any doubt in my mind but that she's worth, as you figger, Reuben, twice that money, but we can't yet tell how much must be spent before she's seaworthy, an' it wouldn't do for this 'ere family to spend so much on the first cost that they couldn't put her in shape afterward."

"I'm allowin' you won't hear anybody bid over you," Mr. Rowe said in a tone of conviction; "that is, if Eliakim don't suspicion you're tryin' to buy her. He's so mighty sore 'cause you've taken Sammy an' me inter the family, that he'd be willin' to lose a good many dollars rather'n have her knocked down to you. Why not get Billy Mansfield to bid on her? Of course, I'm allowin' he ain't figgerin' to get her for himself, an' that you could soon find out. It looks reasonable he's huntin' for the chance to make an investment, an' Eliakim never'd think of smellin' 'round to see if he was on your side. We've got a good load of lobsters in the car, Uncle Ben, an' some dandies that we took outer the traps to-day, so what's to hinder your goin' over to the Port in the mornin'? We'll 'tend to the work here all right, an' you may stay till you've worn your welcome out, so far as business is concerned."

"I believe I'll go, Reuben," the old lobster catcher replied after a brief time of thought. "To tell the truth, I was kinder turnin' over that same thing in my mind before you spoke. We can't afford to take any risks jest now, an' there's no tellin' how soon the weather may change so's we can't get over to the Port for quite a spell. I reckon we'd best toddle up to the shanty an' get somethin' to eat, seein's how it's pretty nigh time to tumble in for the night. It beats all how a chance like this mixes me up!"

"I don't wonder at it, Uncle Ben," Sam cried. "The thought of havin' the 'Sally D.' for our own would mix anybody up! If we can only get her!" and Sam ran swiftly toward the house to make ready the long-delayed meal, Tom following close at his heels in order to render such assistance as might be in his power.