“And leave mother alone!” objected David.
“She’s been out with me many a night on the Sound. She’s brave, and won’t mind a good south-west wind, such as I dare say breaks in on the shore this minute. Go and call her.”
And so the family started forth to go fishing.
This was a night the two brothers had been looking forward to during weeks of earnest labor, and now—well, it could not be helped, and there was not a moment in which to hold counsel.
Mr. Bushnell had planned this surprise early in the day, but had not told his wife until evening. Then he announced his determination to “learn what all these midnight and all-night absences did mean.”
As the Lady Fenwick came out from the Pochaug River into the Sound, the south-west wind brought crested waves to shore. The wind was increasing, and, to the great relief of David and Ezra, Mr. Bushnell gave the order to turn back into the river.
The next day David Bushnell asked his mother whether or not she knew the reason his father had proposed to go out with them the night before.
“Yes, David,” was the reply, “I do.”
“Will you tell me?”