ound. "They're getting ready now to pick
the bones, and are only waiting for us to get out of the way before they
settle down to the job."

"It's getting pretty late, isn't it?" inquired Bill. "I hardly think
we'll see Bartanet Shoals again to-night."

"Not a chance in the world," replied Lester, as he looked at the sky,
already crimsoning in the west. "We'll have to stay all night with Mark
and make a break for home in the morning. But it doesn't matter, and dad
won't be worrying about us this time, especially if the weather stays
clear."

"I'm afraid Mark will find it some job to put us up for the night,"
observed Ross, as he noted the tiny dimensions of the little cabin on
the beach.

"It isn't exactly a summer hotel," grinned Lester. "There's only one
room and that's pretty well cluttered up with his nets and tackle and
other junk."

"We'll probably have to sleep outside on the sand," remarked Bill.

"All the more fun," chimed in Teddy. "We've done it once and we can do
it again. One thing sure, there won't be any kick coming on the question
of ventilation. The earth for a bed, the sky for a blanket----"

"And the sea for a lullaby," finished Ross.

CHAPTER XX

THE EMPTY HUT

"Listen to the poets," jibed Bill. "Homer and Milton have nothing on
them."

"Don't mind his knocking, Ross," said Teddy. "He's only envious because
he can't rise to our heights. He's like that fellow that Wordsworth
tells us about:

"'A primrose by the river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him
And nothing more.'"

"Well, what more was it?" grinned Bill, stubbornly holding his ground.

"A hopeless case," groaned Teddy. "If he heard a bobolink singing, he'd
ask whether it was good to eat."

"What is this anyway?" laughed Fred. "It sounds like elocution day at
Rally Hall."

"Talking about eats," chimed in Lester, "what's the matter with getting
our stuff off the boat before it gets dark? Mark will have plenty of
fish with him when he gets back, and with what we can supply we ought to
be able to get up a nifty little supper."

"Count me in on this," said Ross. "I've got quite a cargo of supplies on
the _Sleuth_, and we'll all chip in together."

"The more the merrier," cried Lester, accepting the offer. "I imagine
Mark doesn't have much variety in his diet, and we'll see that to-night
at least the old man has a bang-up meal."

"They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach,"
observed