The island was not a large one, and there were few inhabitants, so a meeting such as Ned believed was set for the place could not fail to attract some attention. Well, the first thing to do, he reasoned, was to discover if the Shark was sending her men on shore.
"Jimmie," he said, as he returned to the conning tower, "how would you like to go hunting in the bottom of the sea?"
"Fine!" shouted the lad.
"Bring in a catfish with a bunch of kittens," Frank laughed. "I'm afraid we have mice in the provision room."
"I'll find a dogfish with a couple of puppies," replied Jimmie, "so we can have plenty of bark to build fires with."
"A bad joke," Frank replied. "If you'd quit studying up slang and read the best authors you wouldn't inflict such pain-giving jolts."
"Who's going with the kid?" asked Jack, sticking his nose up through the open hatchway.
"I am," replied Frank, calmly. "It is not safe to trust him on the island alone."
"What do you want me to hunt?" asked Jimmie, turning his back on the two boys.
"Information."