"Clam-chowder club, of course," growled Boggs, "with a brass band and a cord of firewood, and three-legged stools to sit on." Marny glared at the Chronic Interrupter, made a movement with his hand as if to compel his silence, and continued: "We had eaten nothing since breakfast but five raw clams apiece, and----" "Where was all this, Marny, anyhow?" asked Boggs. "Down at Uncle Jesse Conklin's, on Cap Tree Island," retorted Marny impatiently. "All right--sounded as if it might be at a summer boarding-house. Go ahead!" "No, down on Great South Bay. The Stone Mugs had an outing and I went along. These clams coming on an empty stomach and being right out of the salt water and fresh and cold----" "Mixed in your statements, old man: can't be salt and fresh at the same time. But go on! So far we've only got five clams to be hilarious on----" Marny reached over and grabbed Boggs by the collar. "Will you shut up, or shall I throw you over the banisters?" "I'll shut up--like your clam; won't say another word, so help me!" and Boggs held up one hand as if to be sworn. "These clams," continued Marny, releasing his hold on Boggs's collar, "coming as they did on an empty stomach, made every man ravenous. French shrimps, Dutch pickles, and Swedish anchovies--all the appetizers you ever heard of--were mild compared to them. Uncle Jesse had opened them himself, the ten men standing around taking the contents of each shell from the end of Uncle Jesse's fork and then waiting their turns until the fork came their way again. All this was under a shed in full view of the harbor and the old man's boats and buildings. "When the sun went down we went into the bar-room, and Uncle Jesse compounded a mixture which made an afternoon call on the five clams, and by that time we could have eaten each other. Six o'clock came, and no signs of anything. Half past six, and not the faintest smell of fried, boiled, or roasted: no hurrying waiters in sight; no maids in aprons; nothing indicating any preparation or any place for it to preparate in unless it was a room behind a small white-pine door which Uncle Jesse had locked in full view of the hungry crowd. Only once did he explain this mystery; that was when he jerked his thumb in the direction of the vacancy on the other side of the panels, and remarked sententiously, 'Won't be long now.' "Soon a wild misgiving arose in our minds. Had anything happened to the cook, or would the simple repast--we had left the details to Uncle Jesse--consist of only clams and cocktails?