Part 7

On that particular night the cook might have made many blunders without any one's being the wiser, so excited was every member of the "family" at the possibility of owning a vessel, and the old lobster catcher himself was not in any less a "mixed" frame of mind than Mr. Rowe, who was, as he said, "so twisted" that Sam was actually obliged to lead him to the table when the meal had been made ready, otherwise he might have gone supperless to bed.

Again and again did Reuben explain how he proposed to launch the schooner without the aid of a steamer or machinery; at least a dozen times Uncle Ben tried to make an estimate of how much money it would be necessary to spend after the vessel was afloat; and whenever they could get a chance to join in the conversation, Sam and Tom speculated upon the income which might be earned by the "family" after an outfit for deep-sea fishing had been purchased.

In fact, the sole topic of conversation, from the moment Uncle Ben had broached the subject until nearly midnight, was regarding the possibilities of the future if the "Sally D." should be purchased by the old lobster catcher and when the master of the shanty declared he would not allow another word spoken until after daybreak next morning, Reuben Rowe confessed that he was more weary than he ever had been even after a hard day's work at mackerel catching.

Quite as a matter of course, it was the first thing the members of the family recalled to mind on awakening next morning, and Uncle Ben was hurried as never before, to the end that he might make a start for Southport at the earliest possible moment.

"I declare for it, if one or another of you hasn't been luggin' me around ever since I turned out," he said half laughingly, half fretfully, when he clambered into the dory which Mr. Rowe had launched. "A body would think you feared the Port might be moved away if I didn't get there before dinner time an' yet I can't see as there's any sich dreadful hurry, seein's the 'Sally' won't be sold till yesterday week."

"It's time you got things fixed, 'cause we can't afford to let sich a chance slip us," Mr. Rowe said as he pushed the dory's bow off even before the old man had taken up the oars.

"I don't allow there'll be much chance of things slippin' us, even if I ain't there till afternoon. Look sharp to the island, an' if so be Eliakim takes it inter his head to come before I get back, see to it you don't say a word to rile him. He has sure brought all his trouble on his own head; but I can't help feelin' bad for him, when I think he's got to sell the 'Sally' 'cause he hasn't the money to put her in shape."

"I believe he would lend that old pirate all the cash he's got, if anybody asked him!" Tommy whispered irritably. "This is the first time I ever believed a man could be too good."

"Better look after the traps before you tackle another job," Uncle Ben cried as he pulled the boat slowly away from the shore. "I don't believe, Reuben, that you'd better do anythin' 'bout gettin' trees for the 'Sally's' ways, as you talked of last night, for them as count their chickens too soon are apt to come to grief."

"I'm only hopin' he don't come across Eliakim Doak," Mr. Rowe said as he and the lads stood watching the old man while he rowed with vigorous strokes toward Southport.

"Why?" Tommy asked curiously.

"For fear of his gettin' so tender-hearted that he'd tell him of the plan we've got for gettin' hold of the 'Sally.'"

Then Mr. Rowe, as if believing it was his duty to act as master of the island in the absence of Uncle Ben, insisted that the boys should lose no more time before beginning the work of the day.

As can well be imagined, the purchase of the "Sally D." was all they could talk about, and even the fact that an unusually large number of marketable lobsters were found in the traps did not provoke any comment on their good fortune, because of the fulness of their minds with other matters. All three were on the lookout when, half an hour after sunset, the old lobster catcher hove in sight, and they were waiting on the beach while he was yet nearly a mile away.

"Yes, I've fixed everything as nearly as it be done," he said in reply to the eager questions when he was come within hailing distance. "William Mansfield will 'tend to the business, an' he advises me to pay even six hundred dollars, if we can't get the 'Sally' for less; says he'll be glad to give us credit for what we may need in the way of supplies. I ain't willin' to run up store bills, though I've given him his own head in the matter of a price. An' now don't say another word 'bout ownin' the schooner, else we're likely to neglect everythin'."

Because of this last remark neither Mr. Rowe nor the boys again spoke of that which lay so near their hearts, until the night before the day on which the auction was to be held in 'Squire Hubbard's office in Southport, and then it was Reuben who said with ill-assumed carelessness:

"I'm allowin' you'll want to be off bright an' early in the mornin', Uncle Ben?"

"Ay, that I shall, an' if the days have been goin' by as slow to you as to me, this has been a miserable long week for all hands. I allow it's wrong to set one's heart on a thing so strong as mine's set on ownin' the 'Sally D.,' but I couldn't put it outer my mind for a single minute, an' if we begin to talk 'bout it now, I shan't get a wink of sleep."

Sam and Tom could have told him that they had literally counted the hours since it was known that the schooner was to be sold at auction, until it had come to be a firm belief with them that the "family" could not prosper on the lines laid down by Uncle Ben, unless they succeeded in buying the vessel.

However, great as was their impatience for the result of the sale to be known, and eager though they were to hear that Uncle Ben had become a shipowner, neither gave words to that which was in his mind until the moment when the old lobster catcher sat in the dory, a full half hour before daylight, ready to begin his journey. Then Sam said in a tremulous voice:

"I hope you will get her, Uncle Ben!"

"So do I, from the bottom of my heart, lad! It's much the same as wicked for us to get so bound up in any one thing, an' yet, no matter how well we was gettin' on before she was offered for sale, it really seems as if my plan of havin' a family would come to naught without her."

"Better not hang 'round here talkin'," Mr. Rowe said impatiently. "There's no tellin' when this wind may flatten completely out, an' it won't do for you to have a long pull while the weather promises to be so hot."

Then, without waiting for the word, Reuben pushed the dory's bow off, and it seemed to the boys as if the first real step toward the purchase of the "Sally" had been taken.

"It'll seem like a month before he gets back, even if he has a fair wind each way," Tommy said with a long-drawn sigh, and Sam cried cheerily:

"Let's get to work, an' keep right at it, else the day will never go by."

Even Mr. Rowe followed this advice, and it is safe to say that a greater amount of work had never before been performed on Apple Island in the same length of time. When the sun began to go down into the west, however, every one kept his eyes fixed on the horizon in the direction of Southport, and Uncle Ben's dory looked to be no more than a tiny speck on the waters, when Reuben shouted:

"He's comin', lads, an' now it can't be sich a dreadful long time before we know who owns the 'Sally D.'!"

Surely the moments never passed more slowly, nor the dory never moved at such a snail's pace before, and Uncle Ben was barely within hailing distance when, unable longer to restrain his patience, Sam cried:

"Who owns her, Uncle Ben? Who owns the 'Sally'?"

Then in a shrill, but triumphant tone, came the reply:

"Uncle Ben's family bought her for four hundred and seventy dollars, an' I've got the papers in my pocket!"

Instantly it was as if the three on the beach had taken leave of their senses. They shouted, sang, and Tommy even danced a hornpipe, after which Mr. Rowe, having learned all he wished to know, ran over to the stranded schooner, where he began making calculations for the work he had already determined should be begun on the morrow.

The two boys acted much as if they wanted to hug the old lobster catcher when finally he stepped ashore; at all events, they each took one of his hands, shaking it so vigorously that he was forced to cry for mercy.

"I reckon I've got a pretty good idee of how you've been feelin'," he said when the whirlwind of their congratulations had subsided somewhat. "Goin' over to the Port I got all worked up over thinkin' that p'rhaps somebody might jump in an' offer more'n we could afford to pay, till I was jest as limp as a rag. We needn't be worried very much, though, 'cause nobody seemed to think she was worth a great deal after layin' in the sand so long. 'Siah Fernald allowed that he'd give four hundred, an' that's what he started her at. I said four-twenty-five, an' he jumped ten more; then I made it four-fifty, an' he sung out 'sixty, an' that's a good bit more'n she's worth as she lays.' I made it four-seventy, an' the auctioneer hung on for another bid till I begun to think he didn't want me to have her, when he shouted, 'Sold to Uncle Ben Johnson, an' I wish him good luck with her.'"

"But I thought Mr. Mansfield was goin' to buy her for you?" Sam cried.

"So he was, lad, so he was. Leastways, that's what he'd agreed to do; but I got so worked up over the business on the way across, that I clean forgot everythin' except how much we wanted to own her an' went to biddin' on my own account."

"Was Pirate Doak there?" Tommy asked.

"Ay, lad, an' glum enough he looked. One spell I thought he was goin' to break the sale up rather'n let me have her; but by hook or by crook he held his tongue, after growlin' out that whoever bought her would be called on to pay cash down. When the auctioneer said she was mine I got the money from William Mansfield, for I'd fixed things when I was in the Port before, so's he could get six hundred outer the bank for me. Eliakim signed the bill of sale, but he never looked my way once. For a wonder he was sober, an' so contrived to act pretty nigh decent. Now we'll go over an' have a squint at the family's property!"

*CHAPTER XIII*

*WRECKING*

When Uncle Ben and the two boys arrived at the stranded schooner Mr. Rowe was there, bustling around as if it was his intention to begin the task of launching her at once, and Uncle Ben said with a laugh, which at the same time was much like a chuckle of satisfaction:

"Wa'al, Reuben, are you countin' on havin' her in deep water before we turn in?"

"I ain't allowin' to let any grass grow under my feet, an' that's a fact," Mr. Rowe replied in a tone of decision. "This 'ere is a longish job, an' I want to get the whole thing figgered out in my head so's we won't have to do any of the work over ag'in."

"Ain't you in any way curious to know how I fixed up the trade?"

"I reckon news like that will keep, seein's how the schooner is yours past all chance of Cap'en Doak's backin' out, eh?"

"The money has been paid, an' I've got a clean bill of sale in my pocket. William Mansfield looked things up, so's to make certain there wasn't a mortgage or lien on her, consequently, seein's how Eliakim signed the documents of his own free will, an' was mighty glad to get hold of my four hundred and seventy dollars, I don't see any show for him to back down on the bargain."

"Come on board, Tommy, an' see what she looks like!" Sam cried as he clambered up over the bow, and Master Falonna followed close at his heels, the older members of the "family" paying no attention to what the lads did, so intent was Reuben on explaining to Uncle Ben exactly how he proposed to begin work on the following morning.

"I'm wonderin' if the boys can't 'tend to the traps alone, to-morrow, so's to give you an' me all the time we want. It ain't that there'll be sich a dreadful sight of work; but we'll need to do a pile of figgerin', an' at that sort of thing two heads are better'n one."

"I reckon they can get along all right," Uncle Ben replied thoughtfully. "Both of 'em have tried it often enough, an' that 'ere Tommy takes hold as if he was born to be a lobster catcher. I was thinkin', though, that there'd be a lot of things needed, an' I'd be called on to go to the Port."

"Unless you've got business of your own, I reckon you'd better stay 'round here one day so's to make certain I don't go astray on my calculatin'. You see, I didn't get all the schoolin' I mighter had, an' when it comes to shakin' up figgers, I ain't over-strong."

"Hello, Uncle Ben!" Sam cried from the deck of the schooner. "Cap'en Doak has left all his things in the cabin--gun an' everythin'. Do you s'pose he allowed to throw the whole lot inter the trade?"

"The 'Sally' was sold jest as she laid, with everythin' aboard, 'cordin' to what the auctioneer said, an' he allowed there was considerable fishin' gear in the hold: but it don't seem likely Eliakim would leave sich as a gun to go inter the bargain."

"Come up here an' look your property over, so's to know jest what you did buy," and Sam passed down the bight of a rope that the old man might come up without too great exertion.

Mr. Rowe dropped his "calculations" in order to aid in the examination of the new property, and night was fully come before either member of the party had satisfied his curiosity. There were many articles in the cabin such as blankets, oilskins, cooking utensils, the rusty gun, and crockery, which would be of service to the "family"; but the collection was so large that it did not seem possible Captain Doak had intended all should be sold with the schooner, and Uncle Ben said with a long-drawn sigh as he led the way over the rail:

"Dear, dear, I did hope that we'd seen the last of Eliakim; but now I s'pose he'll be fritterin' 'round here pretty nigh all summer, makin' mischief, an' allowin' he's only gettin' his things away."

"If you bought the schooner jest as she lays, I wouldn't trouble my head 'bout Eliakim Doak. I'd tell him flat-flooted that what things was aboard belonged to the man who bought her, an' that he'd get himself filled so full of holes that he could let hisself out for a milk-strainer, if he ever stepped foot on the island ag'in," and Mr. Rowe shook his fist in the direction of Southport, as if by so doing he could frighten the man who might possibly attempt to work mischief.

"We won't have any words with Eliakim, Reuben," Uncle Ben replied placidly. "If he comes here claimin' what's in the cabin, I shall tell him to take it an' be off; but he must be made to understand that I won't have him whifflin' 'round this island any longer than's necessary to pack his dunnage inter a boat. Now then, Sammy, if you're goin' to give us any supper this night, it's time you began to stir yourself right lively."

Sam did not need to be reminded of the task to be performed. He was already in advance of the others on the way to the shanty when Uncle Ben spoke, and immediately quickened his pace to a run, followed closely by Tom.

If it is true that "too many cooks spoil the broth," then the supper should have been ruined beyond redemption on this first night after the family had become shipowners, for each member insisted on "bearing a hand," until, as Sam declared, it was hard work to find the stove.

Uncle Ben's prayer was one of thanksgiving, when supper had finally been made ready, and even a stranger might have understood from the words how rejoiced the old man was at having thus come into possession of the "Sally D.," for by the purchase of the vessel it seemed to him as if there could no longer be any question as to the success of his plan relating to the gathering of a family.

There was very little sleeping done by the inmates of the shanty on this night. So great was the excitement that each one got up two or three times to look out of the door for some signs of a new day, and it yet lacked a full hour of sunrise when Uncle Ben said in a tone of positive relief:

"I reckon we may as well turn out, lads. There's a good deal to be done before nightfall, an' precious little chance that we can sleep while all hands are on edge 'bout the schooner."

Mr. Rowe ate breakfast hurriedly, as soon as it had been made ready, and then, in persuance of the plan already formed in his mind, went, in company with Uncle Ben, to the grove of fir trees in the middle of the island, it having already been arranged that Sam and Tommy should attend to the traps alone.

The boys were proud at thus being entrusted with the labor, yet it would have been more to their liking had the task assigned them been on shore, for they were feverishly eager to see the work of launching the "Sally D." begun. As it was, they set about the job with a will, and it is safe to say that never before had Uncle Ben's traps been hauled and reset in such a short time. What pleased them better than all was the fact that the catch was unusually large, and Tom said in a tone of satisfaction as the last captive was thrown into the car:

"At this rate Uncle Ben won't have to take very much more of his money out of the bank to pay for outfittin' the schooner, 'cause the lobsters will pay all the bills. I'm glad we've got so many, an' a good deal better pleased because now we can turn to an' help Mr. Rowe with his work. Let's get ashore lively. I'll help cook dinner, so's not to be gettin' any more of the fun than you."

When the boys went ashore they were disappointed at not seeing any evidences of Mr. Rowe's work. They had expected much would have been done toward floating the schooner, and yet it was as if she had not been visited since they set out to haul the traps.

Not until the two men had answered the summons to dinner did the lads understand the meaning of this seeming neglect, and then Mr. Rowe explained that until the timbers, of which the ways were to be made, had been cut and dragged to the shore nothing could be done.

"We'll give you a job as soon as these 'ere vittles have been ate," he said with a laugh. "Uncle Ben an' I have got three trees ready, an' while you're makin' horses out of yourselves by haulin' 'em to the beach we'll trim up as many more."

Sam would have left the dishes unwashed on this day, in order to get at what seemed more important work the sooner; but Uncle Ben insisted that the housework must go on as usual, whether the "Sally" was floated or not, therefore the shanty was set to rights, hastily but thoroughly, before the boys began their share of the wrecking.

It was exhausting labor to get a pair of wheels under each of the heavy timbers in turn, and drag it across the island, but neither Sam nor Tom counted the cost, so that their portion of the task was accomplished.

When night came again Mr. Rowe announced that it was his purpose to "make a showin'" next day, promising that when the sun had set once more his companions should see that which would make plain his method of floating the schooner.

"I've got timbers enough for the ways on the port side," he said, "an' there won't be need of cuttin' more till she's on her beam-ends. The only question is whether we can do it in one tide; for if we can't, all our work will be wasted."

"If it wasn't for pullin' the pots, Tommy an' I could put in some mighty big licks at shovelin' sand," Sam suggested, and much to his surprise Uncle Ben added placidly:

"I've been thinkin' of jest that same thing, lad. You see I ain't used to anythin' but fishin', an' can't do more'n half a man's work at other jobs, so I'm allowin' to pull the pots alone to-morrow, same's I've done year in an' year out ever since settlin' down here. That will leave you boys free to help Reuben, an' I'm countin' on seein' a big pile of work done when I get back."

"That's what will happen," Tommy replied confidently, and then he began to help the cook that they might get to bed the earlier.

There were no laggards in the shanty next morning. It would not be time to attend to the traps until about the middle of the forenoon, because of the tide, therefore Uncle Ben took it upon himself to do the housework. Thus there was nothing to prevent the boys from getting at the task of wrecking as soon as breakfast was eaten, and the meal had been prepared before sunrise.

A hard master was Reuben Rowe. His desire to see the "Sally D." in a seaworthy condition was so great that it seemed as if neither himself nor any other could do as much work in a given time as he wished to see done, and the consequence was that he drove his assistants to the utmost of their powers, until Sam laughingly declared that he "begrudged the time it took them to draw their breath."

The plan was to excavate the sand from beneath the port side of the schooner, doing it in such a manner that the timbers could be set in place before she heeled over, and this was, as he said, "quite a nice piece of work."

Uncle Ben shoveled industriously until it was time for him to visit the traps, and then said cheerily as he pushed off in the dory:

"I'm allowin' to come back as soon as may be, an' I'm not sorry to get a breathin' spell. Pullin' lobster-pots is child's play 'longside of what Reuben expects his helpers to do, an' I'll be havin' what you might call a vacation. Keep steady at it, lads, for that's the way to win in a long race."

"An' you can make up your mind that we're counting on that same thing!" Reuben replied emphatically. "After we get the schooner on what you might call ways, so's there's no chance of her sinkin' any deeper in the sand, it'll be all right to take things a little easier, but till that's done it's a case of hustle all the time."

Then Uncle Ben pulled off from the shore, and the three laborers shoveled sand as if their very lives depended upon it, until Reuben finally announced:

"I'm thinkin' half an hour more will see us well along with this job, an' it hasn't been done any too quick, for the tide is beginnin' to come. If it catches us before the timbers are down all the work will go for nothin', 'cause it wouldn't take long for the sea to wash every grain of sand back where we've taken it from."

As he spoke the lads straightened up for an instant to relieve the painful strain on their backs, and at the same time Sam chanced to look seaward, when he saw that which caused him to cry in dismay:

"There comes a dory from Southport way! It can't be anybody but Cap'en Doak, an' he wouldn't pull all the distance over here except it was to make mischief!"

There was an expression of anxiety on Reuben Rowe's face as he gazed intently in the direction indicated by Sam, and after what seemed like a very long time of silence he said slowly, and with somewhat of menace in his tones:

"I'm allowin' that's him for sure, an' there's likely to be the biggest kind of a row if he tries to be funny. If we lay still half an hour jest now, this day's work is spoiled, an' he shan't be the man to waste our time like that!"

"I wish Uncle Ben was here," Sam said half to himself, and Reuben added:

"I ain't certain but it's a good idee he's away. The old man is too soft-hearted to deal with the likes of Eliakim Doak, an' I ain't given that way a little bit, seein's I know him root an' branch."

"What will you do if he tries to kick up a row?" Tommy asked anxiously, and one might have believed that he would be pleased to see the former owner of the "Sally D." meet with a person who was not very careful to avoid hurting his feelings.

"I'll give him all he's lookin' for, an' a little more! Dig the best you know how, lads, an' p'rhaps we can get the timbers in place before he makes the cove. Then we'll have time to look after his case," and Mr. Rowe set the example by throwing out sand from the trench in a regular stream.

*CHAPTER XIV*