“We’ll not be in any storms. The cutter Bennington anchors in the harbors, and, besides, the boys will be ashore in town at Kadiak. You don’t suppose that Uncle Sam will let me have them around underfoot all the time, do you? I’ll have something else to do.”
“But what could the boys do, then?” inquired Mrs. McIntyre.
“Nothing much. Hunt seals and otters and whales and bears, and a few little things like that—catch more codfish and salmon than they ever thought of around here—go boat-riding with the Aleuts—”
“In those tippy bidarkas?”
“Tippy bidarkas,” nodded Uncle Dick; “and go egg-hunting on the gull rocks, and all sorts of things. Why, they’d have the time of their lives, that’s all.”
“But not one of the boys has a father at home now to advise in the matter,” hesitated Jesse’s mother. “They are all inside, and won’t be back for a week.”
“They’ll all be back just a week too late,” answered Uncle Dick. “In about three-quarters of an hour from now, as Captain Ryan here will advise you, we start; and these boys, I think, will be on board the Yucatan headed for Kadiak. You want to remember that this is Alaska, and that these are Alaskan boys. They’ve got to grow up knowing how to take care of themselves in this country. They’re not sissies, with red morocco shoes and long yellow curls—they’re the stuff we’ve got to make men out of up here. How’d Alaska ever have been found, in the first place, if there hadn’t been real men raised from real boys?”
“Oh, well!” began Mrs. McIntyre; and each of the other ladies echoed, “Oh, well!”
“Oh, well!” echoed Uncle Dick. “I’ll tell you what: you had better hurry back home and get their blankets rolled, and an extra pair of shirts and some spare socks thrown together. And, boys, the best thing you can do is to go down to the store and get some ammunition. We can get all the grub we want from the ship’s stores out at Kadiak. Now, excuse me, ladies, but don’t take my time arguing this matter, because I’ve got several things to do; and the boat’s going to start inside of an hour, and we’re going to start with her!”