"Four weeks, eh? I did think I'd had these rubber boots longer than that. It is amazing how attached you can get to things even in a little while."
Holding aloft the knife with which he was preparing to behead the unlucky flounders, His Highness gazed reflectively down at his feet.
"It's awful that I have to keep having so many things, isn't it? I hate to be costing you money all the time. Now if you'd only let me ship for the Grand Banks when the Katie B. goes out——"
"Walter! What is the use of digging up that old bone again? I never shall let you ship for the Grand Banks or any other Banks so long as I live. We've had this out hundreds of times before. You know you and Bob are all I've got in the world. Do you suppose I want you lost in a fog and never heard from again?"
"Oh, Great Scott, Ma! They don't lose fishing boats now as they used to. They carry wireless, and the fleet keeps in touch every minute."
"The dories have no wireless aboard them," observed Mrs. King grimly.
"I suppose not, no, probably they don't," His Highness admitted reluctantly.
"Anyway, wireless or no wireless, you are not going on a fishing cruise to the Grand Banks."
"I hear you, Ma," grinned the boy.
"There is plenty of work right here on the land if you're looking for it. Why must you always be wanting to go to sea to earn money?"