“I was beginning to think something dreadful had happened to you,” said Mrs. Layton, as they dashed panting up on the porch. “Was the wireless station so interesting, then?”
“I should say it was!” said Bob, answering for all of them. “We’ll tell you all about it while we’re eating lunch.”
This was not so easy to do, however, as the feminine portion of the family had not the interest in wireless possessed by the boys.
“Instead of going to that old wireless station, why don’t you boys go and catch some crabs for us once in a while?” queried Rose, Joe’s sister.
“We’ve heard that there are lots of them in that inlet back of the beach, and I don’t see why you couldn’t catch some just as well as not.”
“Girls do have good ideas once in a while, don’t they?” said Joe. “What do you say to going crabbing this afternoon?”
“Great!” his chums exclaimed, and resolved to start on the expedition immediately after lunch. In anticipation of this, the grown-ups had brought crab nets with them, so it only remained to secure some chunks of meat as bait, and the boys were off to the beach intent on reducing the number of the crab population. Rose Atwood and Agnes and Amy Fennington had been invited to go, too, but had refused on the ground that while they liked crabs after they were cooked, they did not like them while they were alive.
“Don’t know that I blame them much,” said Jimmy, commenting on this. “A crab is a mean customer, and can give you a bad nip from those big claws of his.”
“The idea is not to let him get close enough to do it,” said Herb.
“I know that’s the idea, all right,” said Jimmie. “But sometimes it doesn’t work out.”