His mother eyed him suspiciously.
“What are you planning to do?” she asked.
“Just want to nose around—books and things,” he explained.
“Can he do any harm?” Mrs. Leighton asked, with a smile. “I guess it’s ‘things’ more than books.”
“Let him stay,” urged the captain. “The place needs all the airing it can get.”
As soon as Andy saw that his request had been granted, he hurried to the boats and opened his trunk. He soon extracted a little red volume. As the returning party approached, he slipped the book to Captain Anderson.
“Captain,” he said quietly, “here’s the book you wanted to see. I thought you might look at it this afternoon. Things are workin’ all right,” he added winking slyly. “I’m on the job to begin earning that boat to-morrow—”
“What book is that?” interrupted Mrs. Leighton, who had her eyes on her son.
Andy hesitated, but Captain Anderson volunteered: