Zeke found the entrance to the weir and they followed him in. Here the water was waist-deep. Zeke explained the plan of the weir. It was, he pointed out, nothing but a deep-sea trap for fish. The fish entered through the narrow opening into a channel which led into the big inner maze. Although it was very easy for them to float in, it was a very difficult matter finding the way out. Caught there, as the tide retreated, they stayed until the fisherman arrived with his cart and shoveled them ignominiously into it.
“Oh, oh!” Laura shrieked suddenly. “This place is full of fish. One just passed me! Oh, there’s another! And another!”
But by this time both the other girls were jumping and screaming with their excitement; for fish were darting about them everywhere. The boys, not at all nervous of course and very much excited, were trying to drive the fish into corners to find out what they were. Zeke identified them all easily enough—cod, sculpins, flounders, and perch.
“What’s that big thing?” Arthur exclaimed suddenly. “Jiminy crickets!” he called excitedly. “It’s the biggest turtle I ever laid my eyes on.”
The girls shrieked and stayed exactly where they were, clinging together. But the males all ran in Arthur’s direction.
“Dat’s some turtle, believe muh,” commented Zeke.
“I’m going to take it home,” Arthur declared, “and put it in the Magic Mirror.”
“The Magic Mirror!” Laura echoed. “Why I would never dare go in swimming if I knew that huge thing was there.”
“We’ll keep it tied up with a rope,” Arthur went on excitedly. “It can’t get where we go in swimming because the rope won’t be long enough. Come on, fellows, help me get it.”
“How are you going to catch it?” Harold demanded.