“It isn’t much,” answered Frank. “You’ll see it maybe at Christmas. You’ll be back here before that time to lay up for winter and I’ll be at home at vacation.” Then suddenly turning upon Victor, he asked, “Why don’t you go home for Christmas? I should think you’d want to see your home again.”
“I’m going some day,” said Victor, his blue eyes gleaming and his beautiful white teeth showing to advantage. “I’ll take you home to Germany. There’s much Christmas coming—plenty of time.”
“But folks die between one Christmas and another,” remarked Frank, adding, “however, I hope your folks will not, and I’ve half a mind to run away and go to Germany with you, when you do go, anyhow.”
“I’ll remember you when I let go for the Fatherland,” replied Victor, as he gave vigorous thrusts to get into the bag a pair of boots. The bag, large as it was, refused to close over them; and so he made it fast with a rope, threw it over his shoulder, and carried it down to the landing.
At that instant the dinner-horn was blown from the door of the little house on the island, and every man, notwithstanding his haste, immediately responded with his presence. At the last dinner of the fishing season Frank was present and assisted vigorously, after which he rowed Victor and his big bag in the Clover out to Victor’s boat. Then he bade him good-bye and stood off while the sails went up and the anchors were hoisted on board a dozen yachts of the fishing fleet.
It was a sad sight to Frank and to Captain Green, who was fishing outside the island, to see the brave boats stepping away into the distance. The tide being fair and the wind light, they were a long time in sight; and the old man fishing thought the Sound would be lonely now, and the boy “was rather glad he was going away to school, after all; there wouldn’t be so much fun now on the water, anyway.”
Frank felt dispirited. He would have picked up his oars and rowed for home had he not heard an exclamation from Captain Green, who at the instant pulled in a fish of extraordinary size, which Frank seeing, felt a desire to do likewise. So for the first time that day, Kate’s clams came into service, and Frank fell to fishing with right good will. It was, as Victor had remarked in the morning, “a capital day for fishing”; either the bait was very alluring or the fish were very hungry, for they bit vigorously and came into the boats in great numbers.
The Clover lay about five hundred feet from Captain Green’s position, and, so rapidly did the fog come down upon them—busy at baiting and pulling in—that neither the experienced man nor the inexperienced boy knew of its approach until it had shut them in.
“Sakes alive!” shouted Captain Green. “Frank! Frank Hallock!”
Frank responded, thinking Captain Green must have pulled up anchor and moved position since last he noticed him.