"Only twice in twenty-four hours at this season," answered Ned, as they went into the house.
"Twice in twenty-four hours! What do you mean?"
"I mean once in twelve hours," answered Ned.
"How is that? I don't understand."
"Well, you see our late summer dews have begun to fall. If you were to go out now, you would find the water actually dripping from the trees. From this time on it will be chilly at night, almost cold, in fact, but hot as the tropic of Cancer in the daytime. So we have a sudden change of temperature twice a day—once from cold to hot, and once from hot to cold."
The boys were too sleepy to talk long, and the sun was shining in at the east windows when Maum Sally waked them the next morning for a breakfast as miscellaneous as the supper had been; sliced tomatoes and figs, still wet with the dew, being prominent features of the meal.
After breakfast Ned looked up a great variety of fishing tackle and got it in order.
"Where are your fish poles?" asked one of the boys.
"Fish poles! we don't use them in salt water. We fish with tight lines."
"What are they?"