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?”