“My! that’s a funny thing to have happen!” said Mr. Bobbsey.
“I’ll get the net!” cried Captain Crane. “If your brother has really caught a fish or a turtle we can have it for dinner. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a turtle,” said the captain to Bert’s father. “There are plenty around where we are sailing now, and they’ll sometimes bite on a bare hook, though they like something to eat better. What bait did Freddie use?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Bert answered.
By this time Captain Crane had found a large net, which had a long handle fast to it, and also a rope, so that if the fish were so large that the handle should break in lifting it from the water, the rope would hold.
With the net ready to dip down into the water, Captain Crane ran along the deck until he stood above the porthole, out of which ran the line. The fish, or whatever it was, was still fast to the other end of the strong cord.
“Haul it up as close as you can to the side of the boat!” called the captain to the engineer, who thrust his head partly out of the round hole. “Then I’ll scoop it up in the net. Watch out he doesn’t get off the hook.”
“That’s the trouble,” said the engineer. “I don’t believe Freddie used a hook. But we’ll soon see.”
Up on the deck of the Swallow, as well as down in the storeroom, where Freddie, his mother and the others were watching, there was an anxious moment. They all wanted to see what it was the little boy had caught.
“Here we go, now!” cried Captain Crane, as he lowered the long-handled net into the water near the cord. The captain held to the wooden handle, and Mr. Bobbsey had hold of the rope.
Through the porthole Mr. Chase pulled on the cord until he had brought the flapping, struggling captive close to the side of the motor boat. Then, with a sudden scoop, Captain Crane slipped the net under it.