irm, and he returned
once more to the cap-sill of the wharf. He saw that if the young man
attempted to sell out his fare at retail, the business of the market
would be ruined for that day.

"I will give you eight cents apiece for all you have," said Bangs.

"You can't buy them at that price. If you don't want them at ten cents
apiece, I shall take them over to Rockland," replied Leopold, who did
not wish to offend the members of the fish firm, for they had often
bought out his fare, and he wished to keep on the right side of them for
operations in the future.

Mr. Bangs considered, parleyed, and then offered nine cents; but
finally, when Leopold was found to be inflexible, he yielded the point,
and agreed to pay the ten cents. The mackerel were unloaded and conveyed
to the market, when the sale of them at retail commenced immediately.
The fish were so large and handsome that twenty cents did not appear to
be a very extravagant price for them, considering the scarcity of the
article in the market. In the settlement, Leopold received forty-six
dollars; Stumpy's share, according to a standing agreement, was one
quarter of the proceeds of the sale; and the eleven dollars and a half
which he put into his wallet was quite as satisfactory to him as the
thirty-four dollars and a half was to Leopold. Both of them felt that
they had been favored by fortune to an extraordinary degree, and they
were very happy. The old boat was sailed back to her usual moorings. The
tinkers were equally divided between the young fishermen, and they went
home.

By eleven o'clock Stumpy had poured into the lap of his astonished
mother the proceeds of his morning's work, and Leopold had informed his
father of the second big haul he had made that season. As before, Mr.
Bennington--but with some additional cautions--told his son to keep the
money he had made.

"The sick man is in a peck of trouble this morning," added the landlord
of the Cliff House, when the exciting business of the occasion had been
disposed of.

"What's the matter of him?" asked Leopold.

"He has lost his book, his record, or whatever it is," added Mr.
Bennington. "He has sent for everybody belonging in the house, including
many of the boarders. He wants to see you."

"I'm sure I don't know anything about it," replied Leopold, who,
judging by what the invalid had said about the book, realized that the
loss of it must distress him very much.

"No one seems to know anything