“Ah, that’s right, Jane!” said the captain, cheerfully, making the maid beam again on seeing “master” in such an amiable frame of mind.
“Fried fish?”
“Yes, sir; brill.”
“Some of your catching, Aleck?”
“No, sir,” put in the maid, eagerly; “that Tom Bodger was over here with it as soon as it was light. He knocked and woke me up. Said Master Aleck forgot it yes’day.”
“No wonder,” said the captain, smiling at his nephew; “enough to knock anything out of your head, eh, Aleck?”
“Yes, uncle; one of the fishermen said I was to bring it home.”
“That’s right. Shows you have friends as well as foes in Rockabie.”
The breakfast went on, and after the first mouthfuls the boy’s jaws worked more easily, and he was enjoying his meal thoroughly, when his uncle suddenly exclaimed:
“What are you going to do to-day, my boy?”