Bob the Castaway | Page 8

"That's right. Now come on, Bob. I'm going to your house."
The captain was warmly welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Henderson a little
later. Bob was wondering whether the captain would say anything
about the recent prank, but the old seaman said nothing, though his
eyes twinkled when, in response to a question from Mr. Henderson as
to where the captain had met Bob, the former replied that there had
been a collision in the dark.
That night, after Bob had gone to bed, Mrs. Henderson had a talk with
her relative.

"I don't know what to do with Bob," she said. "He is always getting into
mischief. He is not a bad boy at heart, but he is thoughtless."
"Yes, that he is," agreed Captain Spark.
"I am almost sure he was up to some prank tonight," went on Bob's
mother. "I shall probably hear about it in the morning, when some of
the neighbors call to make a complaint. Oh, dear, I wish I knew what to
do!"
"I'll tell you what," suddenly exclaimed the captain, banging his fist
down on the table with emphasis. "Let me take him to sea with me
aboard the Eagle."
"Take him to sea? Take Bob on a voyage?" asked Mrs. Henderson.
"That's it! You let me take him, and I'll guarantee I'll make a man of
him. The land is no place for a boy, anyhow. He needs a bit of ocean
travel to broaden his views."
"That is a strange proposition," said Mr. Henderson. "We must think it
over."

CHAPTER IV
TALKING IT OVER
Captain Spark was invited to spend a week or more at the Henderson
home. He was up bright and early the next morning--in fact, before any
one else, and Bob, hearing some one moving around downstairs, and
knowing his father and mother were not in the habit of having such an
early breakfast, descended to see who it was.
"Good-morning, my lad," greeted the mariner. "I suppose you are going
to take the morning watch and holystone the decks. Nothing like being
active when you're young. It will keep you from getting old."

"Yes, sir," replied Bob, for he did not know what else to say.
"Haven't got any more tic-tacs, have you?" and there was a twinkle in
the captain's eyes.
"No, sir."
"That's right. If you've got to play tricks, do it on somebody your size.
Then it's fair. Don't scare lone widows."
"I won't do it again," promised Bob, who felt a little ashamed of his
prank of the previous night.
Soon Mrs. Henderson came downstairs to get breakfast, and when the
meal was over Bob got ready for school, Mr. Henderson leaving for his
work in the woolen mill.
When Bob was safely out of the way Captain Spark once more brought
up before Mrs. Henderson the proposition he had made the night
before.
"Well, Lucy," he said, for he called Mrs. Henderson by her first name,
"have you thought over what I said about taking Bob to sea?"
"Yes, I have."
"And what do you think of it?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I don't like the idea."
"Why not? I'm sure it would be good for him."
"It might. I'm sure you mean it well, but I couldn't bear to have him
go."
"It will make a man of him--cure him of some of his foolish ways, I'm
sure."
"Perhaps it would. Bob is very wild, I know, but I think I have more

influence over him than any one else. He will do anything for me, or
for his father, either, for that matter. I am afraid if Bob got away from
our influence he would be worse than he is now."
"Oh, we have a few good influences aboard the Eagle" said the captain
with a grim smile. "Only we don't call 'em influences. We call 'em
ropes' ends, or cat-o'-nine-tails, or a belaying-pin. I've known a limber
rope's end, applied in the right place, do more good to a boy than lots of
medicine."
"Oh, but, captain, I couldn't have Bob beaten!"
"No, of course not, I was only joking. Not that it doesn't do a boy good,
though, once in a while, to have a good tanning. But I don't recommend
it for a steady diet."
"Bob's father has never whipped him since he was a small lad," went on
Mrs. Henderson. "Not that he doesn't seem to deserve it sometimes
even now, but Mr. Henderson believes in talking to him and showing
him how wrong he has acted."
"Yes, talk is good," admitted the mariner, "but if there's a rope's end
handy, it sometimes makes the talk a little more effective--just a little
bit."
"I suppose life aboard a sailing ship is very hard now-a-days," ventured