"Then I'll clean them," said Alec, and getting some baskets, he dropped into the nearest scow. The watchman moved on about his work.
In no time Alec had the scow clean and her burlap sacks piled neatly in the centre. He hoisted his baskets of shells to the pier and tackled the next scow.
Captain Rumford was on hand before any of his men came. "Who put those shells there?" he demanded, noticing the baskets Alec had placed along the edge of the pier.
"I did, sir," said Alec, somewhat fearfully.
"You did! Where did you get them, and what did you do it for?"
"I got them out of the scows, sir. They hadn't been cleaned."
"The deuce they hadn't. That's twice Pete has left my scows full of shells within two weeks. We've got to have some better method of getting rid of old shells. Can't stand this. Busy as all fiddlesticks and our scows full of shells when we come to work.
"Say, boy," said Captain Rumford after a moment's pause, "who told you to clean out those scows?"
"Nobody, sir. I thought it would help along with the day's work and I did it. I didn't know what else to do with them, so I put them in the baskets I found here."