"It's lucky he didn't have his will, an' p'rhaps it's well he kicked up a row, else I might have fiddled over my plan till there wasn't life enough left in me to carry it out as I've figgered on. Now it's the same as started, an' all owin' to Eliakim's bad temper."
Sam and Tom looked at each other in perplexity. Uncle Ben appeared to think he had accomplished something of importance, and yet they failed to understand what he meant, for to mix a plan of his with the actions of Captain Doak seemed much like trying to combine oil with water.
"What is it, Uncle Ben?" Sam asked after waiting in vain for the old man to make the necessary explanations. "How did Cap'en Doak's tryin' to burn the shanty have anythin' to do with your plan?"
"It wasn't what he tried to do since I left that made any difference; but only because I knew he was out to make trouble. I'll get a bite to eat, fill my pipe, an' then, while I'm takin' comfort, you shall hear all about it."
The old man set about making ready a meal, and while he was thus engaged Tom crept out to learn what move Captain Doak might have made, returning five minutes later with the report that the commander of the "Sally D." yet remained on the beach as when they had left him.
CHAPTER VIII
UNCLE BEN'S "PLAN"
Before Uncle Ben's "bite" had been made ready the boys understood that it was quite time for them to have breakfast. Already the first gray light of the coming day could be seen in the eastern sky. and it surprised them not a little at thus realizing how long a time had been spent in defending the shanty.
"It didn't seem to be as if we'd been foolin' with Cap'en Doak so long, but 'cordin' to the looks of things he's made a night of it," Sam said in surprise, as he looked out of the shanty door at the sky.
"I'm reckonin' you got so excited that you couldn't keep any very close run of the time," and as he spoke Uncle Ben displayed a slice of juicy steak he had brought from the mainland. "What do you think of that? It ain't very often I allow myself to buy meat when there's plenty of fish to be had for the takin', but this seemed to be what you might call an extry occasion on account of its bein' the beginnin' of my plan."