"He's crazy as a hedgehog, an' I'm allowin' he'll be worse before gettin' better," Mr. Rowe said as he turned his attention to dragging the heavy chest toward the shanty, while Tom and Sam ran along the beach until arriving opposite where the "Sally" lay helpless, and so near the disabled schooner's bow that it seemed as if they might board her without wetting a foot.
"Don't make the mistake of foolin' with her," Uncle Ben shouted warningly. "She's abandoned, an' any one has the right to take possession, but we can't afford to have more of a row with Eliakim Doak, so the safest plan is to give the schooner a wide berth. We'll pull the pots now, so's to stay in the shanty when he comes back to set about workin' her off."
"An' it'll stand him in hand to come mighty soon, for it won't take long for her to settle herself so far in the sand that all the steamers 'twixt here an' Boston couldn't pull her off," Mr. Rowe cried as he dragged his chest inside the shanty, disappearing with it to come out a moment later and say cheerily:
"If you lads know where the pots are, I'll row the dory while you do the pullin'. Uncle Ben can stay ashore an' look after things, 'cause there ain't any call for all hands to go."
The old lobster catcher made no protest at thus being relieved of labor, and as soon as they could make ready Mr. Rowe and the two boys set off to make a complete voyage around the island, as would be necessary in order to examine all the traps, while Uncle Ben was left critically examining the "Sally D." from a distance, as if trying to form in his mind some plan of launching her.
CHAPTER X
MR. ROWE'S PROPOSITION
The catch brought in on this day, when Uncle Ben had no hand in the work, was so large as to surprise the old man, and he said in a tone of content, when Sam reported the number of lobsters put into the car, which was just outside of where the stranded schooner lay:
"'Cordin' to the looks of things it would pay for me to stay ashore all the time, for I haven't taken as many full-sized lobsters this last month."
"Well, why don't you do it, Uncle Ben?" Rube Rowe asked, as if the matter was one which might readily be arranged. "You're gettin' kinder old to be knockin' 'round in a boat, an' it looks as if you had help enough here to run things about as they oughter be run."