“’Ow’s that?” said Mitchell, as he stopped in the act of putting the dishes on the table and listened.
“Why, you see the Uncle I ran into over at Austin’s Pool a few weeks ago—you know the one who owned the Fish Hawk and—”
“T’ feller as was sech a good sailor as we outsailed, ye mean?” asked Mitchell with a grin, taking a big brown pie from the pantry in one corner of the room.
“Yes, he’s t’ one. I told you that he had always treated me mean. Well, you see, he always thought I was lazy and he was bound he’d flog it out of me. He called me lazy because I always wanted to potter around with new ideas and new inventions. He never believed in anything that was progressive. All he knew was hard work, wouldn’t send me to school, wouldn’t help me with anything; just made me work like sin. Treated me downright nasty.
“Keeping me from school was what worried me more than anything else, though. I wanted to go to high school mighty badly because I hoped some day to go to college and study engineering.
“Well, I knew the only way I could ever get to school was to earn enough money all in a lump to pay my way. About that time the Titanic ran into an iceberg up off the banks somewhere; you remember the time, don’t you? Well, I got an idea out of that. Why not try to invent an absolutely safe lifeboat that could not sink or capsize? The idea was a corker and I set to work on it. And, by jingoes, when I got my model finished if my uncle didn’t get hold of it and throw it overboard and flog me besides. That’s what made me run away from him.”
“Well, blow me, hif ye didn’t make a lifeboat what won’t sink ner capsize, fer that air wessel war right side hup and warn’t leakin’ neither when I got hit,” said Mitchell.
“Oh, you don’t know how tickled I am. I was sure it would work. I knew I had the right idea,” said Ray as he fondled the little craft.
“Right an’ so, lad, right an’ so; but look ’ere, hif ye stand there ravin’ habout yer boat ye won’t git anythin’ t’ eat. Las’ call fer dinner, fellers. Hits on t’ tible,” said the old seaman, drawing up the chairs.