"There's no use talkin', she'll make a snug little craft for this 'ere family," Mr. Rowe was saying as the lads joined the party, "an' if she don't bring in a good many more dollars than ever the lobster business did it's 'cause I've forgotten how to handle a line!"'
"I'm hopin' she'll pay well," Uncle Ben replied thoughtfully, "but it ain't on account of my hankerin' after the dollars for myself. I reckon there's enough left in the bank to pay my funeral expenses, an' I'm hopin' the Lord won't let me live after I can't take care of myself; but it's the family that's makin' me want to have more money comin' in. If I can see scraped together what's needed to buy the island an' have it fixed by the lawyers so's it'll always be a home for decent boys who are willin' to help themselves if they're given half a chance, then I'll feel as if I'd done somethin' in this 'ere world that's worth countin'."
Mr. Rowe looked oddly out of the corner of his eye at the old lobster catcher for a moment, and then said, half to himself:
"'Cordin' to the way I look at things, what you've already done is well worth countin', Uncle Ben, an' if there are sich matters as harps in the next world, yours oughter be the biggest an' have the most strings!"
"If that old heathen ain't comin' over here jest when we don't want him, I'm a duffer!" Tom screamed at the full strength of his lungs as he pointed across the water in the direction of Southport, and, turning quickly to learn the cause of the alarm, the other members of the family saw two dories heading for the island, one leading the other by a considerable distance.
In an instant Uncle Ben and Mr. Rowe were on their feet, the old lobster catcher showing by his face that he was seriously disturbed in mind, as he asked of Mr. Rowe in a gentle whisper:
"Do you allow, Reuben, that Eliakim can really be comin' here after havin' stayed away so long?"
"I'm ready to allow that there's nothin' too mean for him to do, 'specially when he's got one of his ugly spells. It strikes me that we've got to handle him my way, instead of yours, for you're too soft to deal with the likes of Eliakim Doak."
"We won't have any trouble, Reuben, unless he tries to do mischief, an' then allow we're warranted in protectin' our own. Ain't there two men in that first dory?"
"Yes, an' most like he's got some vagabond crony or another, with more trailin' on behind, allowin' that they'll do jest about as they please. Now see here, Uncle Ben," and Mr. Rowe spoke in an imploring tone. "You ain't built the right way to tackle sich as them, so s'pose you toddle up to the shanty with Joey, an' let the boys an' me 'tend to this 'ere job? I'm willin' to agree that soft words are all right as a general thing, but when it comes to throwin' 'em away on the likes of Eliakim, it's a waste of time an' breath. This 'ere is the same as your own island, an' if you'll crawl off somewhere, I'll see to it that Doak don't do any funny business."