“If he didn’t have his line baited, or a hook on it, I don’t see how he caught anything,” said the engineer.
“I did have something on my line,” Freddie exclaimed. “I had—I had—-”
But just then Flossie, who had been forgotten in the excitement, burst out with:
“Where’s my doll, Freddie Bobbsey? Where’s my nice rubber doll that you took? I want her! Where is she?”
“I—I guess the fish swallowed her,” Freddie answered.
“The fish!” cried all the others.
“Yes. You see I tied the rubber doll on the end of the line ’stid of a hook,” the little boy added. “I knew I had to have something for to bait the fish, so they’d bite, so I tied Flossie’s doll on. The fish couldn’t hurt it much,” he went on. “’Cause once Snap had your rubber doll in his mouth, Flossie, and she wasn’t hurt a bit.”
“And is my doll in the fish now?” the little girl demanded, not quite sure whether or not she ought to cry.
“I guess it swallowed the doll,” returned Freddie. “Anyhow the doll was on the end of the string, and now the string is in the fish’s mouth. But maybe you can get your doll back, Flossie, when the fish is cooked.”
Captain Crane bent over the fish, which was flopping about on deck.