ad been
found near the deserted camps on that side of the island.

Frank took the clams down to the water and washed them carefully, a
bucketful at a time, turning them all into the hollow of a large rock
near the fire.

As the fire grew hotter, Merry threw stones into it and kept it
roaring. None of the stones were smaller than a man's fist, and some
were larger than a man's head.

"Why are you doing that?" asked Hodge.

"You will see when the time comes," smiled Frank.

Hans sat on a rock and stared into the fire, his air of dejection being
extremely ludicrous to behold.

"Come, come, forget it!" exclaimed Merry. "Cheer up and be like
yourself."

"I can nefer peen like yourseluf again so long as I had this face onto
me," sighed Hans. "Id peen a vrightful thing to think dot I might peen
misdooken any dime an Irishmans vor! Dunder und blitzens! I vos all
proken ub in peesness ofer dot!"

It was useless to try to cheer him up. The more they talked to him the
sadder and more downcast he looked.

After a while Frank had burned out nearly all the wood, and nothing was
left but a dying fire. He did not wait for it to die down, but raked
away everything but the red-hot coals and some of the stones in the
fireplace of stone. Then he took the wet seaweed and threw it into the
fireplace, where it began to sizzle and steam.

"In with the clams, boys!" he cried, as he began to toss the big fellows
in upon the seaweed.

They helped him, and soon all the clams were scattered on the steaming
seaweed. Then he covered them with more seaweed, and, aided by the
others, piled the hot rocks he had drawn out of the fireplace on top of
this mass of seaweed.

What a sizzling and steaming there was, and what a delightful odor came
to their nostrils! Quickly Frank had another fire going, and by this he
kept hot a mass of rocks he had heated in the first fire, but had not
piled upon the seaweed. In this way, by the time the rocks on the weed
were cooled off, more rocks were ready to take their place, and the
clams were kept steaming.

After a time, Merriwell announced that the clams must be nearly done. He
sent Hans off to the yacht to bring Browning ashore. The Dutch boy found
it difficult to arouse the big Yale man, but Browning was fond of clams,
and he came along quickly enough once he was fully awake and understood
what awaited him.

As the boat reached shore, Merriwell began to rake the rocks off the
seaweed.

"Ye god