"It'll be shallow enough to use the rakes for at least a hundred yards off shore when the tide goes out," Mr. Lakewood declared as the anchor touched bottom.
"Hadn't we better be getting the rakes ready?" Bob asked.
"Sure we will, right away."
He gave the order to a couple of the sailors and they went below and soon returned carrying four of the rakes in their arms. They were about twelve feet long, each rake consisting of two poles bolted together about four feet from one end, which had fastened to it a curved jaw fitted with long teeth. These jaws when shut made a kind of basket capable of holding a peck or more of oysters.
"They're more like a big pair of pliers than a rake," Jack said as the sailors laid them down on the deck.
"But they call them rakes just the same," his uncle told him.
"How soon can we have a try with them?" Bob asked.
"Right away if you want to."
"I'll say we do," Jack declared.
"All right, then, we'll start in near shore where the water's shallow enough to work out as the tide recedes."