as soon as daylight began to dawn joe was awake, and pulling open the flap of the tent, he glanced anxiously around. "hurrah! a pleasant day," he exclaimed under his breath.
"boys, wake up, and let's have a row. the water is smooth, and we'll have a jolly pull all by ourselves before the other fellows are stirring. don't make a noise."
the four boys threw off their blankets, and dressed as hurriedly and quietly as possible, and ran down to the beach, where the boat was fastened, high and dry above high-water mark.
"whew!" whistled ben, looking with dismay at the long stretch of beach, down which they must drag or push the boat before it could float. "the tide doesn't favour us in this job, does it?"
"no, but the boat isn't heavy. we have pushed it down many a time," said joe courageously.
"never, with only four pairs of hands," added dave, not quite so enthusiastic as his friend.
"oh, come on. if we wait for the tide to come up, we shall have a whole posse of boys crowding in."
"all right; a long pull and a strong pull and a pull all together."
"there she goes."
"'she starts, she moves, she seems to feel
the thrill of life along her keel,'"
said dave in declamatory style.
"well may she feel it, grating over these stones," said ben, laughing and pushing with all his strength.
"whew! now! there, all together again."
[illustration: "now! all together!" (missing from book)]
if was a hard push, but the boat was launched at last, and the four boys in. each took an oar and pulled hard and fast.
"let's go over to 'gull rock,'" said joe. "we are headed that way, and it will make just a good trip before breakfast."
"which is gull rock?" asked ralph, looking over his shoulder as he rowed.
"that long line of dark off there just to the left of that brig."
"joe chester! are you crazy?"
"we can do it, and be back in time for breakfast. i know we can."
"all right; go ahead! let's try it," said ben. "this is my first and last row this vacation, and i'm ready to put in my best stroke. when i invested in this boat i expected to get my money's worth of fun out of it; but--
'the best-laid schemes o' mice and men
gang aft agley.'"
"especially when you have a scapegrace for a chum," said ralph soberly. "if it hadn't been for me you would have been here through it all. i declare it is too bad, ben."
"nonsense! i haven't grumbled, have i? wait till i do, old chap. i reckon i needed the lesson i got as much as you did, and i'm not sorry that i had to learn it. now, don't let's groan," and ben began to sing,--
"'i never was on the dull, tame shore,
but i loved the great sea more and more.'"
"but how was it when you were on the great sea in a fog-storm?" interrupted ralph laughingly.
"oh, go away. this is poetry; that wasn't."
"not by any manner of means. you are right there."
"there's jonas going to market to get fish for breakfast," said joe, as he saw jonas and friday coming down the rocks with basket and fishing-rods.
"you ought to be phosphorescent enough to be useful as matches, if you have been having fish morning, noon, and night for a fortnight," suggested ben.
"very likely we are. the nights have been so bright we haven't needed to light candles, so we haven't had any use for matches; but i imagine we would all throw out a faint light if we got where it was dark enough."
"we'll have two more chances to add to our stock of phosphorus. fish for breakfast and fish for dinner! i see the gulls on the rocks now. we must be two-thirds across, boys," said dave. "i tell you we are doing strong pulling."
"yes, but nothing fancy about it," laughed ben. "i reckon an amateur boat-crew would hoot us."
"who cares for style? i go in for speed. i can feather my oar every stroke if i want to," said dave.
they pulled steadily, and gull rock was readied at last.
"shall we land?"
"yes, if we find a good place. let's row along-shore and see what the chances are."
"there!" exclaimed joe, "there's a fine chance up in that cove. there are lots of nests there; see the gulls fly up! we'll carry back some eggs, or the boys won't believe we've been so far."
"all right; in she goes," said ben, lifting his dripping oar.
dave did the same, and the two oars on the other side brought the boat quickly around, so ben could seize the rock and jump ashore with the rope. before he had fastened it the other boys had leaped ashore also, and were hunting for gulls' eggs.
"oh, here they are by the hatful!" cried joe. "we can get all we want and take only one egg from a nest, so the old birds won't be discouraged," he said, taking his round cap off, and going from nest to nest until he had filled it.
the others did the same, and after taking a hasty run over the island, they jumped into the boat again, pulled in the rope, and were homeward bound. the pull back was more leisurely; and, as ben said, "they paid more attention to style." the other boys were at the landing when the boat arrived with its bare-headed crew, and the caps were speedily emptied of the eggs, which were eagerly taken by the crowd to keep as mementoes of the vacation. after breakfast jonas was besieged by one after another, begging to have the eggs boiled hard, so they would be safer to carry.
"well, bring 'em all along, and i'll make one job of it," said jonas good-naturedly. "i'll put on a kettle and boil the whole lot, and you can divide 'em afterwards."
there was a general scramble for the boiled eggs, but every boy got one or more to put away in his valise as treasures to be taken home and preserved for the sake of the pleasant vacation days. such a motley collection as these boys had got together during the two weeks--sticks and stones and rubbish of all kinds, mementoes of some good time; and they must be taken from the island whether the more valuable property could be carried or not!
the steamboat was not expected till the afternoon, and during the early part of the day some of the boys went rowing, some to wander in the woods. ralph and ben joined a fishing-party going to the place from which they had been driven by the tide "on liberty day," as they laughingly called it.
"do me the honour to use my rod, ralph," said joe. "i think you have seen it before."
ralph pretended to be ignorant of his meaning. he admired the rod, but said, "no, joe; i am going to cut one yonder that will do just as well for me."
"it is not; it is yours."
"well, call it mine. i'm much obliged; but really now, i don't want to fish. i've had enough of that. i am going to search for bait, and keep the hooks supplied. just give me one half the glory of catching the fish."
"all right. we'll make it a point to keep you busy, boy. here, bait's wanted," cried ralph, jointing the rod and untwisting the line. "i can't start with a bare hook."
"hold on till i get started in the business. i haven't got in my supplies," answered joe, leaning down over the side of the rocks and pulling off winkles that were fastened to it. "there now; go at it. both hooks are baited, and more meat's ready. who wants bait? here are fine fat winkles to cover bare hooks."
"bait mine."--"my hook is bare," was the constant cry, as the boys crowded around joe, who patiently baited the hooks with the meat taken from the little shells, until his fingers were dyed purple.
"well, you are a good-natured fellow, sitting here and doing this while we have the fun," exclaimed ned, coming for the twentieth time to have his hook baited.
"that depends on how you look at it," was the philosophical answer. "i might say you are the good-natured fellows to catch my fish for me, while i sit here and smash shells in a lazy way. this is just as good fun as fishing when you like to do it."
"i'm glad you like it," said walter. "it is a good deal livelier work for us than if we had to stop and search for bait ourselves."
"i move that we return a vote of thanks to joe chester for his philanthropy or some kind of an opy--perhaps that isn't the right word--and then go back to camp. it must be near dinner-time, and jonas will want these fish," suggested ben. "cheers for chester! he's 'a gentleman and a scholar.' hip! hip! hip!"
the cheers were given with a will. the boys were always ready to cheer on the slightest provocation, partly because they felt free to make as much noise as they liked on this island, so far out on the sea, and partly because they appreciated all good-natured acts, and this was their way of expressing their thanks.
joe laughingly declared that they did him too much honour, and then, to change the subject, said, "let's string the biggest fish on sticks, and take them to camp that way. enough for dinner, you know. we can carry them easier that way."
this was soon done, and with their fish and rods they sauntered leisurely back to the camp, stopping here and there where the hillocks tempted them with blueberries.
"i hope mr. bernard will make arrangements to have the camp here next summer. he couldn't find a jollier place," exclaimed ben.
"no; this beats all the camps we ever had," said joe. "i move that we ask mr. bernard to come here again."
"any fish?" shouted jonas, as they came near the camp ground.
the boys held up the sticks for their answer, and jonas gave a grunt of satisfaction as he paused in dipping water from the spring to relieve them of their burden.
"we need a good bath," said joe, looking at his stained hands and soiled jacket. "i, for one, will have a final swim."
"you had the last yesterday, i thought," said dave.
"yes, but this is an appendix." and in a few minutes he had changed his fishing for a bathing suit, and was diving off the rocks. several others followed, but the sport was interrupted by the dinner-bell; and joe hastened to make his toilet and join his friends at the table.
"well, boys, this has been a successful trip, has it?" asked mr. bernard, as he glanced from one bright face to another. "have you had all the pleasure you anticipated?"
"oh yes, and more too," was the enthusiastic answer. "it has been a splendid time--the best camp we ever had."
"and we want to thank you for it," said joe, leaning forward to look at mr. bernard, who stood at the other end of the long table. "we don't know any other way to express our feelings except by giving three cheers. will that do?" he asked laughingly.
"oh yes, that will express them better than anything you could say," was the laughing reply.
"i move three cheers for our teachers--the best teachers any boys ever had. hip! hip! hip!"
then followed a deafening shout that came from the hearts as well as from the throats of the boys.
