Mose soon completed the task given him and then sounded a tin pan for the call to luncheon. A grand scramble ensued and there was much confusion and advice before every one was comfortably settled on cushions and rugs about a large cloth spread out upon the grass.
The three hostesses had been very busy unpacking and arranging the contents of hampers and boxes but now that the result of their efforts and work was finished the hungry picnicers enjoyed the wonderful meal thoroughly and the viands disappeared like magic.
Wide and well worn was the trail made by Mose as he tracked back and forth from famished eaters to the chowder kettle and when Billy called for a fourth bowl of the delicious soup, the distracted chef turned the pot upside down in silence to prove that not a drop remained therein.
Directly after luncheon, Uncle Bill proposed a hike around the island stopping at the tall spruce tree to retake the snap-shot of the hawk’s nest and also to place a signal on the beach of quicksand.
“Ah! Now I know how Paul delved for that clam!” murmured Mrs. Remington, nodding her head wisely.
“Oh, by the way! maybe Billy has requisitioned too much chowder to be in trim to climb that tree!” said Uncle Bill quietly, the moment he recognised the blunder he had made.
“Oh, no, you don’t, Bill!” laughed Mrs. Farwell. “You’re fairly caught this time and we demand knowledge of that clam-digging feat!”
However, Uncle Bill was not to be caught napping again, so he began a long, tiresome story of clam-digging until every one told him to “cut it short!”
Having succeeded in taking a picture of the fish-hawk’s nest and rigging up the red banner for a signal to unwary hikers, as well as painting a warning on the front face of the rock in white lead, the entire crowd continued the hike over the island.
After many adventures they came to a small beach at the north end of the island where the winter storms washed ashore all sorts of debris. Paul spied a gleaming white section of a skeleton and he ran excitedly over calling as he went: