Others said, "Oh, I am too tired to go so far!"
"Wait till to-morrow!"
But the first speakers were already hurrying across the pasture with Mr. Andrews, stopping here and there to pick strawberries or raspberries, and to look for some blueberries that had ripened before their fellows.
The walk was longer than they expected, and the way through the tangled underbrush of the woods was no easy one; but they at length came out into the pasture-land at the northern end of the island, and from there the path was smoother.
The light-keeper gave them a gruff but hearty welcome, and his wife invited as many to come into her nest of a house as the little room would hold.
The two boys belonging to the family were shy but radiant at the prospect of something to break the monotony of their island life.
"I suppose you want to go up and see the lantern, boys," said Jacob Kramer, the light-keeper.--"Here you, John and Jerry, go up with 'em, and tell 'em all about how it works."
John made no reply save to run up the steps leading to the lighthouse, and Jerry, with the crowd of other boys, followed, or as many as could enter at once.
After the lantern had been examined, John led the way down the side of the cliff where they could see the surf-bell rung by the waves.
"That sounds like somebody's funeral!" exclaimed Joe Chester, shrugging his shoulders.