Mrs. S. F. Keene

“ There lay the slippery fish scattered over the deck, flapping still, and refusing to die. Beautiful fish they were, banded and mottled with green and blue and purple; but Ben turned away from them with a shudder, which was changed into a groan as the two men began to dress them for packing.
"Want to help, boys?" asked the captain, with a wink at Marcus.
"Not much, captain."
"Ralph, this is going to be horrid," he whispered, as he threw himself down by his friend, and put his head under the blanket with him.
"Going to be? Isn't it already? I hope it won't get any worse," groaned Ralph. ”

“ He asked that they might not be contented to go through life selfishly, seeking only their own comfort and happiness; but that they might watch for opportunities to be helpful to others, and that they might be kept from all meanness of word or act.
When they came from the tent the savoury odour of breakfast was wafted to them from the cook-tent.
Jonas and Freitag had been fishing off the point as soon as daylight, and now the victims of their hooks--only an hour ago swimming in the broad ocean--were served up on tin trenchers, set at intervals along the table. ”

“ THE SWIMMING-POOL.
No bell was needed to awaken the boys in the morning; and one tent after another was thrown open to the breeze as the boys in undress ran down the beach for a plunge.
"Colder than Greenland's icy mountains," shouted Joe, as he met some of the boys on their way to the water when he was returning to his tent.
"Yes, colder than the north-east side of the pole," added David, who followed close behind.
"But jump in all of a sudden and it isn't bad," continued Joe. ”

“ But I'd like nothing better than to get rid of you. I don't want passengers to look out for in a gale. My little smack has rode out many a storm, but I'd rather be alone with my one man."
"Oh, ask them! beg them!" urged Ralph, more and more excited.
"Tell them we've got money to pay with," added Ben a little more quietly.
The captain laughed, but gratified them by hailing the brig. "Here are two boys, sea-sick and scared; storm coming; no accommodation. Can you take them off my hands?"
"We are bound out," came the answer from the vessel, whose outlines were only dimly seen through the fog. ”

“ I never saw the time I couldn't get on one more haul of fish. A smack is like an omnibus--it always has room for one more," said the captain laughing.
"You are pretty full now."
"Bless you, no! This isn't a trifle to what we ought to do. Mighty poor fishing this trip. Reckon I've got a Jonah aboard."
"A couple of them, perhaps," answered Ben, with a wink at Ralph.
"The fog is coming on," continued the captain, looking off seaward. "We shan't be able to see our hands afore our faces to-night, like as not."
"What do you do in a fog?" asked Ralph eagerly.
"Do? why, we make the best of it, boy. ”

“ A barrel of biscuits had been opened on their first arrival at the island, and the boys had "taken the sharp edge off their appetite," as they said, by eating them; otherwise Jonas would never have been able to bring those clams to the stage of perfection that he did.
"Come, Jonas! they are done to a turn!" cried the impatient boys.
"They will lose all their goodness in that good smell," said Joe, sniffing the air. ”

“ The light-keeper hurried the rescued party to the house, where his wife had hot coffee and a bountiful meal ready for them. The men were too much exhausted to talk, and were glad to accept the offer of a chance to sleep off their fatigue.
"Now, boys, we must go back and leave it quiet here; these men need rest."
"Come on, then, John and Jerry; show us the spouting-horn," cried Joe.
"Will it take us far out of the way, boys? I am too tired to waste steps," said Mr. Bernard.
"No, sir; we can go to camp right up that shore," and John led the way, running like a young deer. ”

“ The time passed so quickly that the boys could hardly believe that Mr. Bernard's watch was reliable when he gave the signal for an exodus from the water. As usual, there was pleading for a few minutes more,--one more dive, or one more race across the pool,--then a great splashing and dashing and general commotion, as the multitude obeyed the order, followed by a scamper of the dripping mermen to the tents. ”

“ I'm willing to live on blueberries if everything else gives out. The blueberries are plentiful still."
"Yes, and the clam-beds are not quite cleaned out," said Ben cheerily.
"A fellow that would starve on the edge of the clam-beds deserves to die."
"I suppose there are some fish left in the sea too," suggested Max.
"Yes, a few. Very likely those the tide carried off with our baskets, the day we had our freedom, came to life again, and are out of hospital by this time," said Joe.--"You can't scare us, Jonas. We don't feel a bit afraid of starving." ”

“ Just the pleasure of getting back among you all and being friends with Mr. Bernard would have been treat enough for me, after my experience."
"And for me too," interposed Ben soberly--"to say nothing of the good times fishing, swimming, rowing, and tramping about through the woods and over the shore. If you enjoyed it any more than I did, I don't know how you managed to bear it, Joe."
It was a sun-burned, rugged-looking set of boys that landed at the Cape, and, with valises in hand, started across the fields to the Academy, talking, as they sauntered along, of the good times they had enjoyed. ”

“ As they drew near the "school," and could see the countless multitudes fairly leaping, Ben forgot his disgust over the ill-smelling bait, and eagerly watched the fishermen as they dexterously tended the lines and landed their flapping prey on the deck.
Ralph was too sick to give any more than a passing glance at the work; but Ben cried, "That's the fun!--Give me some hooks, Marcus, and let me help."
"Help yourself! there's plenty there. One will be all you can manage though," said Marcus, snapping a fish from one of the hooks with a jerk. ”

“ Mr. Bernard did not for a moment suspect that Joe's confusion was the result of guilt; but knowing the boy so well, he felt sure that he had some knowledge of the offender, and that the knowledge was a burden.
After another glance along the seats where the older boys sat, the teacher said, very soberly, and with a peculiar look in his searching eyes: "Is it possible that we have a liar amongst us? A LIAR!"
The boys shrank visibly from this plain speaking, but the teacher repeated it slowly, "A LIAR!" ”

“ 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!" ”

“ Kramer said, "Lucky you didn't know it, for a crowd of you boys jiggling and pushing and fooling, as boys do, would have gone over. Stand back there!"
"Hullo, below!" shouted the mate. "Here's some food for you."
Walter and Ned, looking up, saw the basket slowly descending, and the boys listening heard a faint cheer above the roar of the sea.
"Got it?"
"Yes, all right!" shouted Walter, taking the basket from the line.
"There! that's all I can do for them," said the mate, reeling in the line. "Now, boys, I'll give you some advice for nothing: Go back to a safer place, and wait for your friends. ”

“ The eighty-five tongues were stilled, but twice eighty-five eyes were continually straying towards the study door behind the desk. In the meantime, Drayton could only conceal his anxiety and alarm by pretending to be very much engaged looking up a Latin translation, while all the time he was saying over and over to himself, "Joe promised to be mum! Joe promised to be mum!" and the minutes seemed hours.
"What could teacher and scholar be doing?"
The boys were all asking themselves that question, as they studied, or tried to study, in obedience to Mr. Andrews's orders. ”

“ Ben went up the steps and peeped around the end of the cabin.
"Good! they are away off where they can't see us. Come on; I'll help you up."
"I'd like to know what you two fellows ran down below for just then?" said the captain.
The boys pretended not to hear the remark; and just then Marcus shouted, "There's a school!"
The boys turned in alarm, thinking only of their own affairs and the only school that interested them; but the captain, turning the vessel's bow, quickly answered, "Good! Bring the lines and bait." ”

“ The moon was down long ago, and only the stars gave light to the runaways as they hastened through the Academy garden and over the fence into the field leading to the shore, feeling that every bush by the way might have some one behind to arrest them. ”

“ Ben shrugged his shoulders as he ended his account of affairs, and sought consolation in another of Jonas's biscuits. After breakfast Captain Dare said: "My man Marcus is looking at me, as much as to say, 'Come, you are wasting time;' but, Marcus boy, we ain't. I believe I've got pleasure enough out of this time to last till I'm an old man. I suppose you think I'm that now; but, bless your hearts, my lads, when you get as old as I am you'll think old age a long way off. But we must be going now. My little vessel there is as restless as a colt. She can never bear to be tied up. ”

“ But Joe's voice did not join in the murmur; he only bent a little lower over his book, and looked steadily at the page without seeing a word upon it.
"You are dismissed."
The bell gave the signal for each class, and the boys passed out in an orderly way; but once outside there was a shout, "Chester! Chester!"
As soon as he appeared he was seized by the crowd and borne on the shoulders of his comrades to the centre of the playground, where all began cheering and scolding him in the same breath.
"If any fellow is mean enough to keep still and let you bear the punishment, he ought to be told on! ”

“ Come, Ralph, get your clothes together," exclaimed Ben, seeing that his room-mate had thrown himself down astride of a chair, and with his head supported by both hands, looked like a third-rate tragedy actor.
There was no answer, and Ben went on packing and talking.
"I'm going to take more things this time. I know I hadn't anything fit to wear last year. Camp-life is very hard on clothes and shoes."
There was no response from Ralph, and Ben, pausing in his packing, exclaimed,--
"What's the matter, Drayton? You look as glum as a catfish with a hook in his gills!" ”

“ We are on our last barrel of biscuits. Haven't flour enough for more than one batch of bread; and not a drop of treacle, even if we had the flour, for gingerbread."
"Nor any ginger, even if we had the treacle and flour," added Ben, with a mischievous twinkle of the eye. "Of course there is no ginger, Jonas was so generous with that in my tea."
The boys laughed, but Jonas, indifferent to that, continued his deficit list. "The coffee's gone, and the butter-tub is scraped clean."
"Mercy!" cried Dave. "This is getting melancholy. It's worse than Mother Hubbard's bare cupboard." ”

“ You'll never catch either of 'em in a lie again."
"Are the boys expecting me?"
"Bless you, sir, no; they don't know no more about it than your boys up yonder asleep in their tents. No, it's all a surprise;" and the old captain chuckled with delight.
"Say nothing about this, Jonas, and keep quiet, so the boys will sleep till we get our arrangements made."
"All right, sir; I've got my fish to catch yet," answered Jonas, baiting his hook.
"Never mind those fish--that's slow work. I'll send my man ashore with mackerel and cod enough to last you a while." ”

“ Dire necessity gave Ralph courage; and motioning Ben to follow, he went on the wharf and hailed the first man he saw: "Are you the captain of that ship?"
"It ain't a ship, sonny, and I ain't the cap'n by a long chalk. Why?"
"I wanted to know when you expect to sail."
"Sail! we are just in; cargo all in the hold," said the sailor good-naturedly, relighting his pipe, and looking curiously at the two boys. "What d'ye want to know for? Don't want to ship, do you?"
"Not exactly; we want to go as passengers on a sea-voyage." ”

“ You boys can go without.--Come on, Freitag!"
The boys were rolling on the rocks and laughing, which added greatly to Jonas's wrath.
"Lazy scamps!" he said.
"Now, Jonas," remonstrated Joe, as soon as he could recover himself and sober his face enough to speak, "we are not laughing at you; we are laughing at ourselves. Don't get mad. We met with a big misfortune. We got fish enough to stock a market--beauties too; and while we went over to see Mr. Kramer the tide came up and swept them all out, and worse still, carried off our fishing-tackle." ”

“ Joe laughed, and continued, "We want to go over to a fishing-place John tells about, where the fish are extra big and quick to bite."
"I am willing, Joe, perfectly willing."
"But that isn't all, Mr. Bernard," said Joe reddening, and finding it harder to ask the favour than he expected. "We want to go on our own hook, and not have any one to look after us."
"That would be sorry fishing, to get on your own hooks, Chester," was the laughing reply. "But I understand: you object to the company of the teachers. Is that it?" ”