Tom displayed the fish in the bottom of their boat with pride, while the girls acknowledged the presence of Bill with little nods and “how do you do’s.” He was not very responsive and one “How do you do, Miss?” sufficed for all.
“Oh, Tom!” exclaimed Leslie, who felt that she knew the lad that had shown them how to run the Sea Crest. “Couldn’t we buy some of those fish? We’re not doing it for fun this time. The boys are hungry for fish and Dal doesn’t have time to fish these days—he’s so busy getting ready to build our log cabin.” Leslie cast a surreptitious glance at Bill, remembering his warning to Dalton. But Bill was looking at Sarita’s glass, which she held loosely in her hand.
“Of course you can have some of our fish. We were going to sell them anyhow. It will be all right with you, Bill, won’t it? I’m working for Bill now sometimes, Miss Leslie.”
Bill had surlily nodded assent to Tom’s question, while Leslie bent over eagerly to look into the other boat, now close beside them, and to select her fish.
“Kin ye see very fur with them, Miss?” Bill was now asking Sarita.
“Oh, yes,” she replied. “It isn’t exactly like a spy glass, you know, but you ought to look at the moon with it some night when it’s full!” Sarita bid fair to start on her favorite fad now.
“I noticed ye lookin’ at the rocks. What wuz ye lookin’ fur? Do ye mind lettin’ me look through ’em?”
Sarita handed over her glass immediately. “Certainly you may use it,” she said, though by this time it had occurred to her that Bill’s question might have some other ground than mere curiosity. But it would never do to show any reluctance. “I thought that I found an eagle’s nest the other day, and I was looking for that first. Then that forbidding old cliff is interesting anyway, don’t you think so?”
Bill grunted some reply as he focused the lenses with no unpracticed hand. “Somebody’s tacked something up there,” he said presently, the glass pointed in the direction of the “retreat.”
“I did that,” said Peggy. “That is to show our prowess. We’ve been climbing around about as far as we could go, I guess, and I was wondering if there weren’t other places we could get to.”