“Did the other boys go with you?” asked his mother.
“No; I went all alone,” he answered, bending his face low over his plate. And then the children began to chatter about something else, for which Tom was glad.
The next morning Tom took his dory and rowed around the Island to the hotel. When he came up to the piazza he found Mr. Smith, the hotel man, talking to a group of ladies, just as he had been doing the day before. Tom took off his cap politely, and said:—
“Good-morning, sir. I’d like to speak with you.”
“Hello!” said Mr. Smith. “You are one of the Island boys, aren’t you? Well, what do you want with me, my hearty?”
Tom drew something out of his pocket and handed it to Mr. Smith.
“What’s this? A pill box!” said Mr. Smith, greatly puzzled. “I don’t want any pills!” All the ladies smiled.
“There’s a mosquito inside, sir,” said Tom. “I heard what you said yesterday: that you’d give a box of candy to any one who would bring you a mosquito; so I found one for you. He’s dead, sir,” he added reassuringly, as Mr. Smith hesitated about taking off the cover of the pill box.
There was a chorus of laughs at the expression on Mr. Smith’s face; but finally he decided to smile. “Well, I am surprised and shocked,” he said. “I could have declared solemnly that there was not a wicked mosquito on this island. But I will wager that this is the only one.”
“Better not make any more rash offers, Mr. Smith,” said one of the girls. “You may have to pay for more candy than you bargain for. We will all set out to hunt.”