"Don"t mind his knocking, Ross," said Teddy. "He"s only envious because he can"t rise to our heights. He"s like that fellow that Wordsworth tells us about:
""A primrose by the river"s brim A yellow primrose was to him And nothing more.""
"Well, what more was it?" grinned Bill, stubbornly holding his ground.
"A hopeless case," groaned Teddy. "If he heard a bobolink singing, he"d ask whether it was good to eat."
"What is this anyway?" laughed Fred. "It sounds like elocution day at Rally Hall."
"Talking about eats," chimed in Lester, "what"s the matter with getting our stuff off the boat before it gets dark? Mark will have plenty of fish with him when he gets back, and with what we can supply we ought to be able to get up a nifty little supper."
"Count me in on this," said Ross. "I"ve got quite a cargo of supplies on the _Sleuth_, and we"ll all chip in together."
"The more the merrier," cried Lester, accepting the offer. "I imagine Mark doesn"t have much variety in his diet, and we"ll see that to-night at least the old man has a bang-up meal."
"They say that the way to a man"s heart is through his stomach,"
observed Teddy, "and if we fill him up, he"ll be all the more ready to loosen up and tell us all he knows."
"I wish we had a Chinaman along," remarked Fred. "We"d get him to make us a soup out of the shark"s fins."
"We"ll try it ourselves if we get hard up," laughed Ross, "but it seems to me we"ve got our money"s worth out of the shark already, without taxing him any further."
They waded out to the boats and ransacked the lockers, returning loaded with coffee and bacon and beans and eggs and jams, the sight of which added a spur to their already lively appet.i.tes.
"That looks like Mark"s boat out there now," observed Lester, as he straightened up and surveyed the sea.
He pointed to a tiny catboat coming in at a spanking gait, and that seemed to be headed directly for that part of the beach where the boys stood.
"At the rate he"s coming, he"ll be here in fifteen minutes," Lester announced a moment later.
"What"s the matter with having supper all ready when the old man gets in?" chuckled Fred. "It"ll pay for using his tools, and it will give him the surprise of his life."
"Good thing!" exclaimed Lester heartily. "The poor old chap doesn"t get many surprises--pleasant ones I mean--and it will warm his heart."
"To say nothing of his stomach," added the ever practical Bill.
The boys set to work with a zest, and five pairs of hands transformed the interior of the little hut in a twinkling. Fred lighted a fire in the rusty stove, Bill cut up some wood for fuel, Ross brought water for the coffee from a neighboring spring, Teddy cleared the litter of odds and ends off the rough pine table and set out the eatables, while Lester fried the bacon, warmed the beans and made the coffee. Everything, even down to salt and sugar, had come from their own stores, so that Mark"s meagre stock was not drawn upon for anything. A fluffy omelet finished Lester"s part of the work, and when Ross produced a big apple pie that his landlady had given him to take along that morning, the boys stood off and viewed their handiwork with pride.
"It makes one"s mouth water," said Teddy, who claimed to be an expert where food was concerned.
"I can"t wait," declared Bill. "I wish Mark had wings."
"He doesn"t need them," replied Lester, looking out of the door, "for here he comes now."
The boys ran out to greet the returning master of the house, who had rounded the point into the sheltered bay and was fast approaching the beach. He had already noticed the two boats lying side by side and surmised that he had visitors. He looked at the boys curiously and waved his hand to Lester in friendly fashion.
Then his boat claimed all his attention. With surprising agility for one so old, he did all that was necessary to lay it up snugly for the night.
Then he clambered into a small rowboat that trailed at the stern, loosed the rope that held it and with a few deft pulls at the oars rowed in until he grounded on the beach. The boys ran forward and drew the boat far up on the sands above the high water mark, while Lester shook hands with the newcomer.
"How are you, Mark?" he said heartily.
"How be yer, Les?" responded the other with no less cordiality, "an"
how"s yer pa?"
"Dad"s all right and so am I," was the answer. "You see I"ve brought a bunch of my friends over to see you."
"I take it kindly of yer," said Mark. "I get a leetle lonesome here all by myself, an" it heartens me up a bit ter git a sight of young critters. Out on a fishin" trip, I s"pose?"
The boys had crowded round them by this time, and Lester introduced them to the old fisherman, who shook hands heartily, albeit rather awkwardly.
"Yes," said Lester, when this ceremony was finished, answering Mark"s last question, "we are on a fishing trip, but we"re fishing for information more than for anything else."
"Information?" repeated Mark, taken a little aback. "Waal," he said, recovering himself, "ef there"s anythin" I know, yer welcome ter have it. What is it yer want ter know?"
"Lots of things," laughed Lester. "But they can wait till after supper.
By the way, Mark, I suppose you"ll let us stay to supper? I know it"s awfully nervy to plump ourselves down on you this way without any warning and without being invited. But if you can take care of us for the night and give us a bite to eat, we"ll be mighty thankful."
"Sure I will," replied Mark warmly. "But yer"ll have ter take pot luck.
Come up ter the cabin an" I"ll hunt yer up a snack of sumthin"."
The boys had been standing between him and their catch of the morning, but as they separated to go up to the shack he caught sight of the stranded body of the shark. He stopped short in amazement.
"Sufferin" cats!" he shouted. "Where in the world did that thing come from?"
"He didn"t come of his own accord," laughed Fred. "We picked him up and brought him along."
"Do yer mean ter tell me that you youngsters caught him all by yerselves?" asked Mark, looking from one to the other in incredulous astonishment.
"That"s what we did," replied Teddy. "That is, we all had a part in hooking him, and then Lester, here, finished the job with his father"s harpoon."
"Les, ye"re a chip of the old block," cried Mark delightedly. "Yer pa was one of the best harpooners thet ever sailed from these parts an" ye sure have got his blood in yer ter do a man-sized job like this. A mighty good job it is too, fer I don"t know when these fellers has been more troublesome than they"ve been this year, what with sp"ilin" the nets an" scarin" away the fish."
He walked around the body, giving vent to muttered exclamations of wonder and satisfaction, and the boys had a chance to study him more closely than they had yet been able to do.
He was a wizened, dried-up little man, not much more than five feet in height. His shoulders were bent with the infirmities of age--they judged him to be over seventy--but his movements were spry, and they had already seen by the way he handled his boat that he was not lacking in dexterity. There was a suspicious redness about his nose that was explained by Lester"s hint about his fondness for a certain black bottle. But his eyes were friendly and free from guile, and the simple cordiality with which he had welcomed them to his scanty fare showed that his heart was kindly.
He found it hard to tear himself away from gloating over the body of the shark--the shark he hated with the hatred of all the members of his calling--but he recalled himself at last to the duties of hospitality.
"Waal, I swan!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. "Here I am wastin" time on this cantankerous old pirate when I ought ter be hustlin" around ter get you boys some grub."
The boys could see a growing perplexity in the old fellow"s kindly face as he tried to think how to feed such a hungry crew as he saw about him.
"Oh, anything will do," Lester hastened to a.s.sure him. "Come along up to the cabin and we"ll pitch in and help."
They reached the door, and as Mark"s eyes fell upon the crowded table, and as the fragrant odor of the coffee and the other good things a.s.sailed his nostrils, he gave vent to an exclamation of astonishment and relief that was lost in the roar of laughter that burst from the boys.
"Waal, I vum!" he exclaimed as soon as he could catch his breath.