When the logs reached the shipyard they were sawed into planks by the "whipsawyers," or the machine saws, cut into shape, as they had already seen, by axes and adzes, and fitted to their places in the building of the ship.
You may be sure the children had to try this game of logging, and they built themselves a raft, of loose boards lying along the beach, and while Betty was the passenger Bob vigorously poled his raft about in the shallows. Patsey Quinn, more ambitious, and used to frequent wettings, boldly imitated the log-men in their balancing feats, not without coming to grief occasionally, though it worried him but little; being in the water to him was much the same as being out of it.
These were busy, happy days for the children; there was always plenty to see or do. Patsey was curious to know about the things of the city, but Bob and Betty felt perfectly sure, at least just now, that the seashore was a much more interesting place.
[a]THE LAUNCHING]
The children were always hearing about lobster fishing, for that was an important industry at Quohaug, so Captain Hawes took them out in his boat to see the fishermen at work hauling in their traps. The fishing-beds were dotted with little buoys, each fisherman having his own, with his private mark. To each buoy a trap was attached by a long line. Down on the bottom the lobsters would crawl into the traps after the bait, and then could not get out.
But Bob and Betty were disappointed to find these lobsters as they came out of the water a dull green instead of the beautiful bright red they expected. Captain Hawes explained that they would come out red after they were boiled.
To-day was the day set for the launching of one of the new ships the children had seen almost finished in the shipyard on their first visit. High tide was the time set, and the whole village turned out to see the event. Captain Hawes had told them that they would soon see the ship floating out in the bay; but this was hard to believe; how would it be possible to move that big mass? "Just you wait and you'll see," the Captain assured them.