"What in the world do you mean by that?"
"I mean just what I say, mother!"
"Is the boy crazy?" demanded Mrs. Duncan, suspending her culinary operations, and looking with interest into the animated face of her son.
"I am as regular as I ever was in my life. I've thought it all over, and spoken to Captain Littleton besides; and he says go ahead," replied Paul, making an early use of the captain's encouraging words.
"But I don't understand what you mean? Going into the fishing business?"
"Yes, ma'am; we've got a boat, and I mean to go down to Rock Island every day, Sundays excepted, and catch perch. I mean to sell them here in Bayville, and Captain Littleton told me to put him down for two dozen every Saturday. That's the idea, mother."
"But, Paul——"
"If I can get a shilling a dozen for them, I can make a dollar a day as easy as you can turn your hand over," added Paul, who was not disposed to let his mother speak upon impulse.
"You would have to be on the water every day."
"What of that, mother? The water is a good thing to be on, and just as safe as the land, if you are only a mind to think so."