It so happened that a lumber-laden vessel was on the point of leaving the harbor bound for Cuba and on her Captain Doak took passage, thus passing out of the lives of those whom he had wronged, and from that day until now neither Uncle Ben's family, nor any citizen of Southport, has ever seen or heard of him.
When the trial had been brought to an end and the angry citizens saw Eliakim leave the harbor on the Cuban-bound craft, Sam and Tom were called upon to tell over and over again the story of the previous day's good and bad happenings, and when the two lads insisted that they must set out for Apple Island in order to arrive before dark Mr. Mansfield said as he went with them to the pier:
"You are to tell Uncle Ben that we of the Port will buy lumber enough to build him a regular house, an' he's to come over here after it when he gets back from Portland. Say to him that we count it our duty to make up for the mischief Eliakim has done, an' when he's ready to put up the buildin' we'll all lend a hand. I reckon we'll make it a reg'lar vacation time. You'll find that mother has sent down food enough to keep you from bein' hungry till the schooner comes back, an' it won't be any great hardship if you do have to sleep out-of-doors this night."
"You've been awful good to us, Mr. Mansfield, an' we won't forget it," Sam said, as he took his seat in the dory, and Tom added:
"It kinder seems as if everybody was good since Uncle Ben took us in hand, an' I'm hopin' the day'll come when I can show him how I feel on account of what he did when he started a family."
"Uncle Ben Johnson is the salt of the earth, if there's sich a thing, an' the funny part of it is that it has taken us folks here at the Port so long to find it out. We've got the idee now, though, an' will keep it in mind mighty fresh."
Then the journey to Apple Island was begun, the lads pulling steadily and strong after their long rest, and once outside the harbor Tom said reflectively:
"I ain't so certain but that your old heathen did Uncle Ben a good turn when he set the shanty afire, 'cause now the old man will have a decent house, which is more'n would ever have come his way if he'd had to spend good money buildin' it."
"That's 'cause he wants to keep all the dollars he can get to help out on raisin' a family, an' it strikes me that he's doin' it mighty fast, though I ain't certain as we can have such high times when there are a good many fellows around."
Then the lads fell to discussing what would be the result after Uncle Ben's plan had been fully carried into execution, and they were not at an end of it when the dory was run up on the sand near the ruins of the shanty.