From this moment Benny received far more attention than was altogether agreeable to him. The crew of the surf-boat told those on board the steamer that he was the lad who had displayed so much bravery and sound common-sense when human lives were in danger, and every man seemed eager to give him some word of praise, until the boy was so uncomfortable in mind that he wished heartily he had never been tempted to visit the wreck. The workmen had more important matters to occupy their attention, however, and after devoting a few moments to No. 8 they left him alone with Sam Hardy, who said with a hearty laugh: “You’ve made a big reputation for yourself, lad, and this summer, when visitors come out to the station, as they do nearly every pleasant day, we’ll be obliged to trot you and Fluff C. Foster out on parade as our swell life savers.” “Then I sha’n’t want to stay there. I wouldn’t have come over here if I’d known the men would say so much.” “Why, surely, you’re not ashamed of yesterday’s work, lad?” “Not because I helped the men ashore; but it makes me feel mean to hear people praising me for doing what any other fellow would have done. It must be a pretty poor kind of a boy who couldn’t throw a rope out to a drowning man, and I’d missed both of them if the wind hadn’t sent the coils in a different direction from which I was aiming.” “Well, Benjamin, allow it all to be as you’ve said, you’ll have to put up with some praise for a spell, an’ then folks will forget it, for in this world a fellow can’t live very long on what he’s done in the past. They’re takin’ off the hatches now, an’ I’m minded to have a look at the hold of this ’ere craft. Come on.” Benny followed, but there was to him nothing particularly interesting in the cargo, and as it could not be seen from the deck, he left Sam and went aft, where he might watch the movements of the tugs as they pulled the lighters here and there in such position that the wind and current would send them down over the shoal to the wreck. This last portion of the work soon engrossed the attention of all the wrecking crew, including those who had been making an examination of the steamer’s hold, for considerable difficulty was experienced in moving the heavy lighters to and fro, and after a time Benny realized that he and Sam were the only ones left aboard the steamer. “We’ll be obliged to stay here till one of the boats is alongside,” he said to himself, and then came the thought that he was spending too much time in pleasuring when he should be attending to his regular duties in the station kitchen. “Perhaps Mr. Hardy will be ready to go now,” he said, running forward toward the hatch where the surfman had last been seen.