The Voyage of the Hoppergrass

!" shouted Captain Ba

n't ahoy

reat rate, until the "Hoppergrass" drew slowly ahead

g on it had his legs drawn up till his knees came right under his chin, so as to keep his feet from getting wet. He was a young man, about twenty years old. He had on white trousers and a

ain, but in an ordinary con

sland from giving way, and letting him down into the water. As soon as he was standing up s

us, and remarked: "G

tain, "before you begin thankin' us. I'll come about

at alongside, but before he could get into it, the

t on swimming, however, until his hat fell off. Turning around, he picked up the hat, and jammed it on his head again. By this time the C

at," shouted the Captain,

o trials (which nearly upset the tender) managed to climb in. He stood up in the stern

e, at last

e small boat gave a sudden jerk, and he wen

to see how the young man was getti

as he got to, now?" e

pt

ng, but we managed to gasp ou

he done

-fell

ickens did he do that fo

me up, once more, in our wake. He brushed the water o

n, "be you comin' on this boat

immer

called, "I'm probably NOT coming.

d stopped speaking. He waved one arm at u

ck once more,-d'yer

yer get aboard, STA

he sat down cautiously in the stern, and waited for the painter to become taut. It had not slackened however, so there was no chance fo

that time, y

d the "Hoppergrass." His clothes stuck tight to him, and his shoes made a squshy

s. Already I had noticed a black fin circling about the island-I mean a LEAN, black fin,-or is it a

r gave a great s

ed, "there aint no s

you are more familia

w something 'bout it,

longer than most

young man, politely, "but have yo

ptain

not. You've got m

house, and there was a moment's si

did yer git on that t

yer co

ff the train? I thought I'd remember it,-I remembered it b

mmon and Spinach,-He

we all e

the river, or down the river, or whatever it is. That was MY boat,-I was going to Duck Island in her. But she'd gone, and the man said he'd let me take a canoe, for half a dollar, and I thought that was very trusting of him, for how did he know

e in a canoe? And you'd

every now and then. The canoe seemed to come along pretty well. How that rive

his mouth helples

id, "you warn't in

r you wouldn't ha

d of her kept swinging round, for the river was running the wrong way. At last I ran right up on that island, and then I got out, for my foot had gone to sleep. You see I hadn't dared to

crabs," sa

te fascinated watching them, and the first

coming in," ex

e?" I asked him, "what

ok came over the

! I wonder wher

" said the Captain

I was watching the tennis-racqu

, "seein' the tide was risin', an' I do

knew it was quite a dis

have swum for

dn't want to g

at his soaked clothes,

nk of that when you ca

really know whe

it again, because Mr. Skeels-that's the name of the man who owns it-isn't it great? I tried

old person

pon lobster

be down to Mr. Pike's tomorrow, asking for the canoe. And my bag, and suit-case, and a

till the tide turns. We'll overtake

out that he had sighted the canoe. It had drifted into some eel- grass, near the shore, and we had no trouble in getting it. Beside the bags, there were in the canoe some large sheets of paper, torn

He promptly changed his wet clothes for a bathin

o overboard, but it will be just li

tain, decidedly; "I've rescued you t

ares me most to death. There was the question of food. The-what-do-you-call-'em crabs had all gone aw

ed and j

fishing it out from a

de it so as to have

e do when they're sh

tai

ver had to come

don't say anything about that. I didn't know whether to divide the chocolate into five pieces or ten,-they'd have been p

hat. There'll be six foot of water on that bar before noon, so yer wouldn't have found t

e. And now, what shall I do? Will you give me a lift as far as Little Duck Island? Or if you haven't got room en

had in tow behind the tender. We all told the cast

, "an' you said you was goin' to Big Duck, didn't yer? You

ple on Duck Island, M

so

man turn

u get that na

hat card o

the bag exami

g to the island, I suppose, to see a Mr. Kidd. Relation of the pirate, I hope. He didn

h to see if we can get a mess of clams of old man Haskell. Then we'll have dinner, a

hot and dusty the streets of the town must be at this same minute! We felt sorry for the people who had to stay there. We had only the clean white hull of the boat between us and the sparkling water of the bay. Toward the sky the great white sail of our boat soared up, like the wing of a giant sea gul

ard, "once it might have saved my life, but I don't care for i

is clothes, which were spread ou

as a relation of the pirate?" asked Captain Bannist

r heard the

ck Island, Captain

yarns, an' all that diggin

it," Ed replied, "ar

oppan scornfully, "there aren

ttle, and made it fast with great deliberation. "You better not

here?" I

annister

ar this place. I

ver seen an

junk full

did th

Mr. Daddles seemed to be as mu

t. That was all there was to it, then. But I se

What were the

Anyway, I guess they was some of the same crew that chased us in th

ing their heads cut of

aman. They didn't seem to mind it

"a Chinese pirate doesn't see

e Captain and Ed Mason in the cock-pit. "I always

und his waist,"

f pistols and thi

has all died off,

ck Pedro," rema

heard o

Daddles, turning to each of us boys, one after the other. "What have your parents been doing to

hang out?" as

tor Key,-I'm not sure wh

zzical fashion. "I guess you've got a yarn

ual, with his eyes fixed on the water ahead of us, part of the time, but now and then raised to look at Mr. Daddles