which I calculated to clean for supper. Then, I hadn't lost any boy, you
see. So I just hollered after him, and tried to let the silly goose know we
didn't mean to hurt him."

"But it was no go?" remarked Steve.

"Oh! he turned to look back a few times, but all the same he disappeared
from sight. Perhaps next time he won't be quite so frightened," Owen
observed.

"There may be some reason for it we don't know about," suggested Max.

"You mean that they don't want people to know about their collecting these
shells, for fear that their little business might be broken up?" Steve
asked.

"That's one reason why they'd try to hide things," Max admitted, "but
there might be another. I spoke of it before, you may remember, boys?"

"Sure you did, Max," declared Steve, quickly; "and mebbe you hit the
bullseye when you said this man might be hiding out up here--that p'r'aps
he'd gone and done something to break the law; and when he saw our guns he
expected we might be sent by the sheriff to arrest him."

"I still stick to that idea," Max declared; "but we may know the truth
sooner or later. One thing we must do if ever we get the chance, and that
is let these shell gatherers know we don't mean to harm 'em even a little
bit."

"But they've just got to let our pearls be, or else they're going to get