"Will they let us go in?" Joey asked doubtfully.
"Let you? Why, ain't it your home, same as it's mine? Did you allow that we was to camp on the shore, an' keep the house only to look at? Of course you can go in, an' when you come to the room jest over the kitchen that's been fixed up for our two cooks, I reckon you'll puff up the size of four ordinary boys."
"A whole room for only us two?" Sam cried incredulously.
"That's what, an' it ain't any almshouse room either! There's a reg'lar bed with all the fixin's, an' what do you say to a whole lookin'-glass?"
The boys could wait to hear no more, but ran at full speed until they came to that same room, where they stood in speechless astonishment a full minute, after which Tom cried:
"Talk about it! It's the finest ever! An' to think that we wouldn't had it but for Uncle Ben! Say, Sam, we're a couple of lucky chaps, eh? Who'd ever thought I'd come to this?"
Not until little Joey came and literally dragged them away did the boys cease to admire the apartment intended for the use of the cooks, and then, under the guidance of the "baby," they explored the entire house, finding something in every room to excite wonder and admiration, until having come to the kitchen with its apparent wealth of cooking utensils, when Sam spoke for the first time since entering the building.
"Mr. Rowe said the Southport folks only counted on givin' us what they had on hand an' couldn't use any longer! If this stuff wasn't good enough for 'em, they oughter tried to get along with Cap'en Doak's layout for a couple of days! What does Uncle Ben say about it?"
"He's been right there in the sittin'-room this ever so long, actin' as if he didn't know what to say," little Joey replied. "It seems almost as if he was sorry because it's so fine."
"I reckon he's feelin' kinder bad 'cause there ain't more boys here, now we've got such a swell home for 'em," Sammy said thoughtfully, and then he went down-stairs to put his face close to Uncle Ben's as he whispered, "I'm goin' to try mighty hard so's to let you see how glad I am you took me in."