"Mean? Can't you see that the cap'en of that 'ere schooner would have a mighty rough time gettin' his hands on you, if it was a case of huntin' for what he wanted? This ain't any toy island, an' I'd be willin' to bet great big dollars that there ain't the man livin' who could get hold of me if I wanted to keep out of his way! What's to hinder our layin' low in the bushes, if so be he comes ashore? I reckon he would be a good long day runnin' us down, an' before that happened your Uncle Ben would be back to take a hand in the scrimmage!"
The look of distress slowly died Away from Sam's face as his companion spoke. He had been so overcome by terror at seeing the "Sally D." that there was no room in his mind for any thought save what Captain Doak would do if it was possible for him to work his will, but now he began to realize that he was showing himself very much of a coward.
"Say, that's so! You must think I'm a regular baby!" he said with a faint attempt at a smile. "Just for a minute it seemed as if I was bound to stand right here waitin' till Cap'en Doak came ashore. I guess we'll give him a good chance to hunt for us."
"That's the way to talk," Tom said approvingly. "We'll give him a run for his money, an' if he gets his hands on either of us I'm allowin' it'll be 'cause we've lost our heads. There's no reason why we should stay up here on the rocks where he'll see us, so let's slip down the other side where we'll be out of the way an' can see what he counts on doin'."
"Why not go straight back into the bushes an' find a hidin'-place?"
"'Cause there's no need of it yet a while. It wouldn't be any very big job to keep ahead of him, with anythin' decent in the way of a start, an' I want to see how far he dares jump after your Uncle Ben has told him that he's goin' to law 'bout it."
Sam had no desire to linger in the vicinity. So great was his fear of Captain Doak that he would gladly have put to sea in the dory rather than take the slight chance of being captured on the island. But, having once shown himself to be a veritable coward so far as an encounter with the commander of the "Sally D." was concerned, he shrank from any further display of fear.
Therefore it was that the boys crouched behind the brow of the cliff, where a full view of the cove could be had, watching the shabby schooner as she crept nearer and nearer to the land, and Sam found it really difficult to prevent a tremor of fear from being apparent in his voice as he replied to Tom's questions regarding Uncle Ben.
The good people of Southport, where Sam had been born, knew that Benjamin Johnson was a native of the town, and even as a young man had been known as an "odd stick," who, when his father and mother died, earned sufficient to make a home for his two sisters by his labor as a fisherman. When the young women were married, Ben leased Apple Island, and for many years had worked industriously; it was generally believed he had saved considerable money, and there were many who, not knowing him of whom they spoke, called the lobster catcher a miser.
"He's been mighty good to me since mother died," Sam said when Tom had come to an end of his questions, "an' if he can make Cap'en Doak behave himself so's I'll dare to show my head, I'll be in great luck livin' here with him."