CHAPTER VI
DISAPPOINTMENT
The boat was made fast and the boys climbed out on the dock, the throngof sight-seers making way for them. Professor Snodgrass, the well-knownscientist, was holding aloft his net, containing the flopping fish.
Andy Rush, not satisfied with the view he had had of the professor’sprize, crowded forward to get a closer look. And then somethinghappened.
Whether Andy’s head collided with the net, knocking it from the handof the professor, or whether the latter had an insecure grip on thehandle, or whether the fish itself caused the accident, probably willnever be known. At any rate, the net slipped, turned over, and, amoment later the fish was flopping about on the dock, doing its best toget back into the water.
“There it goes!”
“Stop it!”
“Grab it, somebody!”
“Fall on it!”
“Get a hook and line!”
These were the cries from the crowd of men and boys on the dock. Asfor Andy, he stood rubbing his head where it had come in contact withthe iron ring of the net. The professor at first looked dazed, thenalarmed, and then anxious. He gazed at his empty net, and next at theflopping fish, which he had called a calico bass. It seemed to besomething between a sunfish and a perch.
“Don’t let that fish get away!” he cried, finding his voice at length.“It’s worth a lot of money to me! Don’t let it get away.”
Some of the crowd were laughing, and others took the words of thelittle scientist earnestly. Among them were the three motor boys, whowell knew the value their friend attached to his living specimens.
“I’ll get it!” cried Jerry, toward whom the fish was flopping its way.
“No, I can nab it!” exclaimed Ned.
“Let me try for it!” suggested stout Bob.
It was like several out-field ball players each trying to catch a highfly.
Andy Rush, realizing that it was probably as much his fault as anyone’sthat the fish had gotten out of the net, also made a dash forward.
“I’ll get it! I knocked it out! I’ll grab it! Put your foot on it! Rubyour hands in sand and then it won’t slip out! Hit it with a club!Grab it! I’ll get it!” spluttered Andy.
“No! No! Don’t hurt it! Don’t hit it, or kill it! If you use violentmeasures the fish will be spoiled as a specimen!” cried ProfessorSnodgrass. “I had rather let it get in the water, and net it again,than to harm it.” He danced about excitedly.
But no one seemed to pay any attention to him. Nor did the littlescientist notice our three friends. His attention was all on theescaping specimen.
“I have it!” cried Andy, suddenly throwing himself forward, full lengthon the dock. The fish was just ahead of him, and it seemed that thesmall chap must capture it.
But Andy had given himself too much impetus. He threw himself not onlydown on the dock, but over the edge of the stringpiece as well, and, aninstant later, clothes and all, he disappeared beneath the surface ofthe river. The fish, too, had vanished.
Then, if possible, the excitement increased, only Andy was not presentto add his shouts to the din. He was under water and could not yell.
“Man overboard!”
“Throw him a line!”
“Get your boat ready, fellows!”
Thus cried those in the crowd as they peered anxiously over the edge ofthe dock.
But there was really little danger. Andy was a good swimmer, the waternear the dock, while rather deep, had no current, and the boy had onlight summer clothes. In a moment he rose, gasping, to the surface.
“Let me take your net, Professor!” exclaimed Jerry to the littlescientist.
It is doubtful if Professor Snodgrass really realized who Jerry was,well enough as he knew the lad and his chums. But the scientist’s mindwas on the fish.
“There he is!” cried someone.
“Who, my specimen?” asked Mr. Snodgrass, eagerly.
“No, Andy Rush!” was the answer, and indeed it was the small chap whohad bobbed into view.
“Here you go, Andy!” cried Jerry, extending the net handle. “Grab holdof this my boy!”
Andy, with a shake of his head, cleared his eyes of water, and reachedout one hand for the pole.
“Use your other paw!” cried Jerry. “I’ll haul you out then.”
“Can’t--can’t use my--my other--hand!” panted Andy.
“What’s the matter--is it hurt?” Jerry wanted to know.
“Hurt? No, but I’ve got the professor’s fish in it!” was the answer.
“Ha! My fish! Good boy!” cried Professor Snodgrass. “Hold on to it, andyou shall be rewarded.”
“All--right!” gurgled Andy, for just then some water splashed in hismouth.
The swimming lad held up one hand, to show, tightly clasped in thefingers, the fish. Then, with the other hand, or “paw,” as Jerry hadcalled it, Andy grasped the pole of the net. He was pulled up farenough so that he could hand the fish to the scientist.
“That’s the boy!” cried the professor, as he opened a box, into whichAndy dropped the wiggling creature. Then the lid was slammed down.
“Now I have you, my little beauty!” the professor exclaimed, dancingabout in boyish delight.
Andy, with both hands free, now secured a good grip on the pole, andJerry soon hauled him, dripping wet, to the dock. The excitement calmeddown, and, for the first time, Professor Snodgrass seemed to note thepresence of our three friends.
A word at this moment about the professor. Readers of the previousbooks of this series know him well. Dr. Snodgrass was a learnedscientist, belonging to several prominent societies. His chief businessin life was the collecting of rare specimens of animal life, fromsnakes to snails and from monkeys to lizards. He was connected witha large Boston museum, and his activities were directed to securingspecimens for it. He traveled all over, going here, there, everywherein search of queer specimens, of which he either heard, or which hisstudies convinced him lived in certain localities.
Professor Snodgrass had made the acquaintance of the boys some yearsbefore, and had gone with them on many of their expeditions, tocollect rare bugs or animals. That was all he did. He took littleor no interest in the object of the expedition, as far as the boyswere concerned. All he cared about was his specimens. It might be ablue-nosed monkey, a triple-toed frog or some such queer thing that hesought, but, whatever it was, the professor usually got it, sometimesmost unexpectedly.
“Well, is it all over?” asked Ned, as he watched Andy take off hiscoat, and wring some of the water out of it. “Have you got yourspecimen safe, Professor?”
“Yes, indeed, thanks to this brave young man. I must reward him, as Ipromised.”
“Oh, that’s all right!” exclaimed Andy. “It was my fault, I guess, thatthe fish got away. And I didn’t mind the bath. It’s a hot day.”
“Oh! Why, bless my soul! It’s Andy Rush!” cried Professor Snodgrass,seeming to recognize Andy for the first time. The little chap hadoften gone with the boys and the scientist on trips.
“Yes, I’m Andy,” admitted the owner of that name.
“And here’s Jerry, Ned and Bob,” proceeded the scientist. “Why, blessmy soul! I quite forgot all about you. I was so interested in gettingthat fish. I must see if it is safe,” and he looked in a box he carriedslung over his shoulder by a strap--a box half-filled with grass.
“Yes, he’s there all right,” the scientist announced with glee. “Now Imust painlessly put it out of misery, and see to its preservation.”
“How did you get here, and where did you come from?” asked Jerry,as soon as most of the crowd dispersed, seeing no more chance forexcitement.
“Why, I am on one of my usual collecting trips,” replied the professor.“So far I have not been successful, and, as I found myself in thevicinity of Cresville I thought I would stop off and see you.”
“Glad you did,” interjected Ned, for the scientist was always welcome.
“I stopped up at your house
, Jerry, as is my custom,” the littlebald-headed professor went on, “and your mother made me very welcome.She said you boys had gone off in your motor boat, but would soon beback--especially as it was near dinner time,” and the professor lookedat Bob, but he did not smile.
“Um!” mumbled the stout lad.
“So, knowing you would land at this dock, I came down here,” wenton Mr. Snodgrass. “While waiting, it occurred to me that I mightprofitably occupy my time by using a net, to see if I could get anyrare fish specimens.
“I was fortunate enough to secure a beautiful calico bass,” thescientist went on. “That is a fish something like a perch, butpartaking also of the nature of a sunfish. I got one in my net, inspite of the distractions of the crowd that gathered to watch me,and--well, I guess you know the rest,” he finished with a smile. “Ithought surely my fine specimen was gone, but I have you safe, mybeauty!” he exclaimed, again looking in the box.
“And,” resumed the professor, “now that everything is all right, I willgo back to your house, Jerry, and make some notes concerning my latestsuccess.”
“Was that what you started out after--a calico bass!” asked Ned.
“No, my dear boy, that is only a side issue, as you boys would say,”was the answer. “What I am really after is a two-tailed lizard. I amnot certain that such a creature exists, but, from having examined manyspecimens of lizards, and finding some with rudimentary evidences ofonce having possessed two tails, I am convinced that such creaturesonce did exist.
“I made a statement to that effect before one of the learned societiesto which I belong, but my statement was questioned by a rival,Professor Battin. He laughed at the idea of a two-tailed lizard. I saidI would prove to him that such a creature existed, and I am going to doit!
“I at once set out from Boston, and, knowing that you boys always gooff on summer trips, I came to you. May I accompany you on your travelsthis time? I am sure I shall find the two-tailed lizard somewhere, andI always have good luck when I go with you boys. May I accompany you onthis occasion?”
“Of course, Professor,” said Jerry, heartily. “But we have made noplans as yet.”
“Is that so? You surprise me!” the professor exclaimed. “Usually, atthis time, you are ready to go away.”
Jerry’s two chums looked at him, as though he might explain.
“The truth of the matter is,” began the tall lad, “there is a littletrouble afoot. If we can settle that, one way or the other, we may goon a trip. And perhaps you can help us!” he exclaimed, as he went backto the boat, bringing up the lump of yellow clay. “I’d like to know,Professor Snodgrass,” said Jerry, earnestly, “whether or not that clayis good for anything; and if so, for what?”
Professor Snodgrass looked at it, smelled of it, touched a bit to histongue, and remarked:
“Well, Jerry, I shall have to analyze it to tell what it is good for;if anything.”
“Oh, yes. I didn’t expect an answer off-hand,” said the tall youth.Then he asked Mr. Snodgrass about his activities since their lastmeeting, and, thus talking, the boys followed the little scientist toJerry’s home. Andy went on to his own house to don dry garments.
“A two-tailed lizard!” grunted Bob to Ned, as they walked in the rear.“That’s about the craziest stunt yet!”
“Oh, well, you know what the professor is,” said Ned, tolerantly.
For nearly a week, while he remained the guest of Mrs. Hopkins,Professor Snodgrass tested and analyzed the yellow clay. Then, oneafternoon, coming out of the room he had fitted up as a laboratory,his hands and face covered with the yellow mud, Professor Snodgrassremarked:
“Well, Jerry, I’ve finished!”
“You mean you have analyzed the clay?” asked the youth, excitedly.
“Yes. I have given it the last test, as far as I am able.”
“And what do you find?”
“Is it valuable?” demanded Ned, who, with Bob, was at his chum’s home.
“Does it contain gold or diamonds?” Bob wanted to know, eagerly.
“Neither one,” and the professor smiled.
“Perhaps it is the sort of clay that contains aluminum,” suggestedJerry, a bit apprehensive at the look on the face of the professor.
“No, Jerry, nor aluminum either.”
“Is it good for anything?” asked the tall lad, desperately.
“Well, Jerry, as nearly as I can tell, and I have subjected it tonumberless tests, that yellow clay would make excellent material forfilling in waste land, but that’s all,” was the disappointing answer ofthe scientist.
“Then it isn’t any good?” faltered Jerry.
“Not the least in the world, my dear boy,” was the final report. “I amsorry, but it seems to me to be absolutely valueless!”