Still nothing was said about Peleg, although Rob had incidentally asked some time before if the boy had shown up at the farm, to learn that nothing had as yet been seen of him.
Apparently Ralph had not as yet made up his mind concerning a visit to town. It might be that the strenuous events of the preceding night were still too vivid in his mind for him to desire to see how Wyoming looked after the fire. Rob, on his part, had no intention of influencing the other to take a run in, knowing as he did that this would mean a trip to the curio dealer, and possibly finding out certain unpleasant truths concerning Peleg.
The two fishermen came back in the car, which Andy had been able to run, just as the lunch bell sounded. Rob knew as soon as he saw them that something out of the usual run must have happened, for both looked mysterious and excited.
Chapter XXIII
Just Between Boys
“Why, they’re all wet, boys, if you’ll believe me!” exclaimed Sim, as soon as Tubby and Andy arrived in the car.
Tubby got out, laboriously, and then proceeded to exhibit as fine a string of bass as the heart of any enthusiastic angler could wish.
“But the biggest got away from us, I’m sorry to say,” he remarked. “’Course I know well enough that that’s an awful old excuse, but in this case it’s a fact. Our condition proves it, too. I held on like grim death, even after he upset the boat, and, say, he dragged me under twice, and then—shucks! the line broke. I guess he snagged it on a sharp rock. These bass are mighty smart fish, I’m finding out.”
Andy was grinning, as though it may have been something of a “circus” to him even if he had also been thrown into the water by the capsizing of their cranky boat when the clumsy Tubby became excited with such a large fish on his hook.
“Believe me, it was a lively time,” he admitted. “Tubby was swimming, and spouting the water out of his mouth like a whale, all the while holding on to his rod, and trying to yell. I think he would have landed that monster bass if only the line hadn’t gone back on him. He was the most disappointed fellow you ever saw when he found his prize had skipped out.”
“Were you far from the shore, and what did you do?” asked Rob.