“Shucks!” muttered Ned; and his tone held a world of vexation and disappointment.
Zu-zu came upon the scene. She heard the sad tale without being in the least vexed.
“I don’t care a bit,” she said. “I’m glad the fish got away. He didn’t want to die, I’m sure. And we have lots of other fish, you know.”
It was plain to the boys that Zu-zu, being a girl, could not understand what a truly great loss had been suffered. So they did not argue the case.
As suddenly as they had commenced, the perch stopped biting. The corks lay idly upon the surface. The sun was high o’erhead. The dragon-flies shot here and there over the water, and the gnats buzzed around the fishermen’s ears, and the ears of Mistress Zu-zu.
“Let’s eat,” suggested Tom.
“Yes, let’s eat,” wagged Bob, appearing as if by magic.
The rest of the company being of the same mind, the napkiny depths of the basket were laid bare—and the way that basket heaped coals of fire upon the heads of those who had despised it was a caution!
Fish bit only slowly during the remainder of the day. One might have thought that they had worn themselves out with their greedy efforts of the early morning. Zu-zu and the two boys idled in the shade on the turf, and Bob, tireless, roamed east, west, north and south. If the island, formerly his home, recalled any memories to his doggish mind, he showed no will to sit and dream over them.