"He's takin' it mightily to heart, an' I can't say as he's to be blamed. The shanty wasn't much as houses go, but he'd built it himself, an' lived in it all his life, so to speak. It won't make any difference how good a buildin' goes up in its place, he'll allers be mournin' for the old one. Wa'al, it can't be helped now, though I do wish Eliakim hadn't been let off quite so easy. In with the anchor, lads, an' we'll make harbor off the Port before midnight. Bear a hand lively, an' perhaps it'll chirk Uncle Ben up a bit if he hears us bustlin' 'round."
Not until the "Sally" was under way once more, eating up the miles on her way to Southport, did Uncle Ben come out of the cabin, and then, in the hope of cheering him ever so little, Sam went to his side, taking him by the hand.
"I'd try not to feel so awfully bad, Uncle Ben, for if the family grows any bigger you'd had to have another house or else left some of us out in the rain."
"I know it, Sammy, I know it, but somehow I can't help feelin' mighty lonesome 'cause the shanty's gone, an' what makes it seem worse is that it wouldn't have been burned if I hadn't been so childish 'bout wantin' to go on the 'Sally's' first cruise. If I had stayed at home Eliakim never'd done sich a wicked thing."
"Now that ain't certain, Uncle Ben, 'cause perhaps you'd been out pullin' pots, an' he'd had the same chance. You'll like the new house just as well after we get it built," and Sam patted the old man's hand as he would have done to soothe a distressed baby.
"It'll never be quite the same, Sammy boy, but I ain't got any right to brood over what can't be helped, an' I'll try mighty hard to keep it from my mind. S'pose you an' I cook supper! That'll kinder take up our attention."
Little Joey came below to help the cooks, leaving Mr. Rowe and Tom to run the "Sally," and so elaborate were Uncle Ben's plans for the meal that the schooner was made fast to the dock at Southport before supper had been made ready.
It was so late in the evening that the citizens of Southport were not abroad to note the arrival, and, therefore, the "family" had no visitors.
It was Mr. Mansfield who discovered next morning that the "Sally" was in the harbor, and he came over the rail before a single member of the "family" had opened his eyes.
"I was allowin' to find you all in the dumps, when I saw the 'Sally' at the dock; but I reckon you ain't takin' it so terrible hard, Uncle Ben, seein's how you can sleep so long," the shopkeeper cried as he entered the cabin without ceremony, and the old lobster catcher replied almost cheerily: