Then Rube Rowe disappeared from view, and while the boys were wondering if he had been seriously injured during the short squabble, he came out of the cabin, dragging a sea chest, which he lowered into the dory that lay alongside. In another moment he was pulling for the shore, and Uncle Ben announced as if the situation needed little or no explanation:
"Reuben has allowed to desert the 'Sally D.,' an' I reckon Eliakim will have a hard time to find another man, for he ain't in no ways a favorite with fishermen."
"How can he sail the 'Sally' alone? Sam asked, in surprise.
"He can't, an' that's why I'm sorry he an' Reuben parted company so soon, 'cause we'll have him layin' here kickin' up a fuss when we count on bein' peaceable."
"Reckon I can take your dory a minute, eh, Uncle Ben?" Rube said as he beached the schooner's boat and threw the sea chest out on the sand. Then, without waiting for reply, he launched the old man's craft, and began towing the "Sally D.'s" dory out to the schooner.
Until he had completed his task Uncle Ben and his "family" watched the proceedings in silence, but when he returned to the shore, pulling the dory belonging to the island well up on the beach, the old man asked with just a tinge of curiosity in his tones:
"Where is Eliakim?"
"Stretched out on the deck, too ugly to move; now he knows I won't stand any more of his nonsense."
"Ain't you puttin' yourself in the way of bein' called a mutineer, by knockin' the cap'en down?"
"Mutiny aboard a fishin' vessel layin' at anchor, with only one man as crew, an' he doin' no more'n protecting himself!" Mr. Rowe repeated with a scornful laugh. "If Doak can make mutiny out of it, an' prove to a judge that I wasn't doin' any more'n a decent man has a right to do, by defendin' himself, let him go ahead an' I'll stand the shot. Say, Uncle Ben, will you keep me here a little while, pervidin' I'll turn to an' work my board?"