Tom was walking toward him with a large, dark object in his hand.
“A lobster!” cried Bart. “A lobster! Hurrah! and hurrah again! Tom, you’ve saved us all from starvation. Good on your head. We needn’t wait here any longer, for it’s getting dark, and we’ll have to join the other fellows.”
On returning to Bruce, they displayed their treasures, to the great delight of all. Arthur and Phil had also been successful. Walking farther up the beach, they had come to the end of the cliff, and reached a steep, well-wooded bank. It was not far away, and there were fir trees, from which they could easily cut enough brush to make very comfortable beds. There was also plenty of drift-wood, with which they could make a fire.
Without any more delay, the boys all started off, first marking the place so as to know where to go for the boat. Beaching the bank, they gathered drift-wood, and logs, and fir-brush, with which they built a fire on the beach at the foot of the cliff, where it adjoined the bank. They had plenty of matches in their pockets, and soon the fire was lighted; the flames rushed fiercely through the inflammable brush-wood, and the boys kept gathering fresh fuel from all sides and heaping it on.
“And now to cook our tea,” said Bart. “Let’s get a lot of stones, and put them in the fire till they get red hot. Then we can draw them out, and roast all our shell-fish splendidly.”
This suggestion was at once acted on, and the boys gathered stones and threw them in.
After this they all went to work collecting driftwood from all sides, till a large pile was heaped up, sufficient to last them through the night.
Then, in turn, each one took the hatchet and went up the bank, and cut as much fir-brush as he considered necessary for a bed. The darkness had increased, and the fog intensified it; but the towering flames, as they leaped up, illumined the scene, affording them sufficient light to cut the brush, and throwing a strong glare along the beach as far as the place where their boat lay.
And next, they pulled out the stones from the fire, and arranging some of them in the sand, they laid the lobster on the top, and piled other stones around them, till the lobster lay buried in an oven as good and as serviceable as that of the best kitchen range. A number of shell-fish were thrown on other stones, and the shrimps were easily cooked by being laid on the top of a hot stone for a few minutes. While waiting for the lobster, they appeased their hunger by cooking and eating these smaller fry.
“I never ate baked lobster,” said Bruce; “but I’ve heard that it’s the best thing there is.”