Still manifestly reluctant the captain at last started the engine but the _Gadabout_ had not gone more than a few yards before he again stopped the boat and said, "We might as well try it here as anywhere." "But you said the fishing here wasn't any good," protested Fred. "It'll do no harm to try it." In accordance with the captain's words the _Gadabout_ was anchored, and as soon as the young fishermen were separated into two parties as they had been the preceding day, the two skiffs were soon prepared for the sport of the morning. The captain, who now was rowing the boat in which John and Fred were seated, had rowed one hundred yards from the _Gadabout_ and the boys both were trolling. Still the captain watched the skiff in which Mr. Button had departed as long as the little boat could be seen. Even the _Gadabout_ now was soon lost to sight. "I'll have to have a fresh bait," said Fred, who had been the first to have a strike. He reeled in his line and swung the hook around for the captain to bait it. A moment later the captain abruptly changing his position dropped overboard the box which contained the leaders. "There I've gone and done it!" he said. "Lost every leader! There is nothing to do, boys, except to go back to the _Gadabout_ and get some more. I'm sorry, but it won't take long." "Nothing else to be done," said John, "so the sooner we get back the better." No one in the little boat spoke while the captain rowed swiftly back to the motor-boat. The surprise of the boys was great when they drew near the little _Gadabout_ to discover that a skiff had been made fast alongside the boat. "Whose skiff is that?" demanded John abruptly. "We didn't leave any boat here." The captain without replying increased the speed at which he was rowing and as he drew near the _Gadabout_ the boys were startled when they saw peering from the companionway the face of Mr. Ferdinand Button. CHAPTER VII ONCE MORE ON COCKBURN ISLAND "Who's that on board the _Gadabout_?" roared the captain. "What are you doing there, you lubber?" "I guess you know who I am," replied the man on deck, who now the boys were convinced was indeed the mysterious stranger. Both boys were startled, as they looked into the face of the captain, who was now rowing swiftly toward the little motor-boat. Whether the expression on his face was one of anger or of fear was not known by either. The man, however, was keenly excited and his anxiety to gain his boat became apparent with every stroke of his oars. In a brief time he swung the skiff alongside the _Gadabout_ and without making any effort to board the boat the captain roared, "What are you doing on board there?" "I came back to get something that I thought might be here, which I didn't take with me," said Mr. Button quietly. It was manifest from his appearance that he was in nowise alarmed by the noisy questions of the captain of the _Gadabout_.