Dab Kinzer eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 266 pages of information about Dab Kinzer.

Dab Kinzer eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 266 pages of information about Dab Kinzer.

“Look at this, will you?”

Dab Kinzer looked, and was very sure he had never before seen quite such an assortment of brand-new fish-hooks, of many sorts and sizes, and of fish-lines which looked as if they had thus far spent their lives on dry land.

“Tip-top,” he remarked.  “I see a lot of things we can use one of these days, but there isn’t time to go over ’em now.  Let’s go for the crabs.  What made you bring your box along?”

“Oh!” replied Ford, “I left my rods at home, both of ’em.  You don’t s’pose I’d go for crabs with a rod, do you?  But you can take your pick of hooks and lines.”

“Crabs?  Hooks and lines?”

“Why, yes.  You don’t mean to scoop ’em up in that landing-net, do you?”

Dab looked at his friend for a moment in blank amazement, and then the truth broke upon him for the first time.

“Oh, I see!  You never caught any crabs.  Well, just you lock up your jewellery-box, and I’ll show you.”

It was not easy for Dab to keep from laughing in Ford Foster’s face; but his mother had not given him so many lessons in good-breeding for nothing, and Ford was permitted to close his ambitious “casket” without any worse annoyance than his own wounded pride gave him.

But now came out the secret of the basket.

The cover was jerked off; and nothing was revealed but a varied assortment of clams, large and small, but mostly of good size,—­tough old customers, that no amount of roasting or boiling would ever have prepared for human eating.

“What are they for,—­bait?”

“Yes, bait, weight, and all.”

“How’s that?”

Dabney’s reply was to draw from his pocket a couple of long, strong cords, bits of old fishing-lines.  He cracked a couple of clams one against the other; tied the fleshy part of one to each of the cords; tied bits of shell on, a foot or so from the ends, for sinkers; handed one cord to Ford, took the other himself, and laid the long-handled scoop-net he had brought with him down between them, saying,—­

“Now we’re ready.  Drop your clam down to the bottom, and it won’t be half a minute before you feel something pull on it.  Then you draw it up gently,—­steady as you know how.  You mustn’t jerk the crab loose.  You’ll get the knack of it in five minutes.  It’s all knack.  There isn’t any thing else so stupid as a crab.”

Ford watched carefully, and obeyed in silence the directions he had received.

In a minute or so more the operation of the scoop-net was called for, and the fun began.

“You got him!” exclaimed Ford in a loud whisper, as he saw Dab quickly plunge the net into the water, and then shake out of it into the bottom of the boat a great sprawling “blue-legged” crab.  “He’s a whopper!”

“He’ll do for one.”

“There’s one on mine!  I declare, he’s let go!”

“You jerked the clam away from him.  Sink it again.  He’s mad about it.  He’ll take right hold again.”

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Project Gutenberg
Dab Kinzer from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.