As the boy spoke Clay appeared on deck with another rocket in his hand. Case was about to call out to him not to waste it, but Alex motioned for him to wait.
“Let’s see about the fish first,” he proposed, “and go on board with a meal that will make him lick his chops like a hungry cat. Cooked fish and bear steak will make him take notice, eh?”
“If you keep on talking slang,” Case reproved, “you’ll have to wash dishes all the rest of the trip. I’m not going to warn you again!”
“I’d wash a bushel of dishes if only I might empty them first!” exclaimed the boy, pressing one hand to the waistband of his torn trousers. “There never was a boy so empty as I am right now!”
By this time the rocket was showering a brilliant red light in the sky, and the boys were arrived at the place where the fish had been consigned to Case’s rude oven. As the latter bent over to uncover the contents of the pit Clay saw them from the deck and called out:
“The fish is here, piping hot on the stove. I was just telegraphing to you about it Wait, now. I’ll throw the line across, and you can draw the boat over. You don’t deserve any supper, but I’ll forgive you just this once. I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
“Is that the cause of this Fourth-of-July celebration?” asked Alex. “If I sent up rockets every time I had something to tell, there would be something doing in the heavens every minute of the time.”
“That is no fairy tale!” Case agreed. “Only you know so many things to tell that ain’t true!”
A slender line came whizzing through the air, secured to a small rock, and Case caught it deftly and proceeded to draw in the heavy rope which would bring the impromptu canoe to the shore. Captain Joe was first in when the boat, if such it may be called, came to the water’s edge, and Case signaled to Clay to pull him across.
“All right,” grinned Case, “you may go if you want a ducking. The dog gave Clay a soaking this afternoon.”
So the canoe started off with Captain Joe as the only passenger. As if to prove good character and make amends for the mishap of the afternoon, he sat with dignity in the middle of the burned trough, and never stirred until Clay assisted him to the deck of the _Rambler_.
Case and Alex were soon aboard. They halted at the door of the cabin, anticipating a flood of questions, but none came. Clay said not a word about the delay for an instant.