"Huh! n-n-no danger," grunted Toby, enviously.

"We had to hurry for all we were worth to get up here before dark," Steve
remarked; "for Owen said the best place would be at the junction of the two
little streams that go to make the Evergreen. And so we didn't have any
chance to make a hunt on the way up."

"But we saw lots of empty shells, you know," broke in Bandy-legs.

"Yes, looked as if muskrats, or something like that, had been living off
mussels right along," Steve admitted.

"And so, while we made camp, our two learned leaders strolled up the river
known as the Big Sunflower to see what the chances were for a crop,"
Bandy-legs went on.

"Now, please make your report, Max, because, you see, we're just burning up
with anxiety to know. A whole lot depends on whether we've come up here on
a fool's errand or not. Did you find what you expected? Are the full shells
here a-plenty?"

And, smiling at the eagerness of Steve, Max drew out several large mussels
from his pockets, which he clapped upon the rude table.

"They're here, all right, boys," he said, earnestly, "but as to whether
we'll find any pearls in the same, that remains to be proven."



CHAPTER III.