"It seems to me," Dr. Crafts said jokingly, "that you have become a public personage in connection with Fisheries even before you come into the Bureau. To figure in a Japanese seal raid and to capture a sea-serpent in the same summer is enough fame for anybody!"
Colin laughed and answered:
"After that it would seem a little like boasting, but——" he reached into his pocket and pulled out the tuna button, safely stowed away in a tightly-closed box.
The Deputy Commissioner whistled softly in surprise.
"And did you win this, too?" he asked. "You went to Santa Catalina, then?"
"Yes, Dr. Crafts," the boy replied, and related his experiences while there. He told the story well, and the Deputy Commissioner—who was a master in that art—nodded appreciatively.
"So far as I can judge," he said, "the Bureau is the place for you. But I don't know where to fit you in. It is getting on towards the middle of August, and not only is the work all arranged for the summer, but most of it is done."
"I just want to be at work," pleaded the boy, "for the experience, not for what I can get out of it, of course."
"That sort of arrangement is impossible," answered the Deputy Commissioner; "there is plenty of volunteer work done in the Bureau, but such work is always along the line of special investigation, and it is given to those who are equipped for research, usually university professors. The assistants are always paid, and you see I couldn't very well create a precedent on your account!"