A SEARCH FOR TRUTH
Early July, which saw the end of both oyster planting, and the shelling
of the grounds, found the pile of shells of Cunningham and Hawley
entirely exhausted. Where so recently these shells had risen in a
mountainous heap, there was now only bare earth, whitened with shell
chips. There had been thousands of bushels in the pile. When the
partners reckoned up their income and adjusted their finances, each had
a nice little sum of money.
The instant their affairs were settled, Alec set about other matters.
Long ago he had ordered and received the instruments that he knew would
be necessary in his summer's work. These included a compound microscope,
half a dozen concave watch crystals, two settling glasses, two graduated
cylinders, two glass pipettes, two large rubber pipettes, four small
medicine droppers, a ten-quart galvanized bucket, a simple lift pump,
some rubber hose, and a salinometer with thermometer enclosed. In
addition Alec had picked up some wide-mouthed bottles, for holding
samples; had fastened several needles in wooden handles he had whittled
out of sticks; and had bought a yard of bolting-cloth with very fine
meshes, from which, with Elsa's assistance, he had made a net, conical
in shape, fastened about a metal ring, with an opening at the bottom
that could be closed tight with a draw string.
Even by practicing what economies he could, Alec had had to spend nearly
seventy-five dollars for the outfit. More than once he had asked himself
if it was really worth while; if, after all, these old practical oyster
captains didn't really know more about how and where to grow oysters
than any mere scientific theorist possibly could. Wasn't he really
foolish to spend all this money? Wasn't he really throwing it away? He
had such need for it, in the purchase of articles more commonly seen in
an oyster fleet. His doubts had hurt and discouraged him. He needed some
one with whom he could talk the matter over. When he looked about, he
saw the same old situation. It was useless to talk to any of his three
friends, Hawley, Bagley, or the shipper. He knew that not one of them
would consider the matter from a serious, impartial, reasonable
view-point. So he had been forced to take the matter to Elsa.
"Never mind about the expense," she had counseled, when they had
discussed the situation fully. "You won't be spending as much for your
entire outfit as most young fellows spend for tobacco and the movies.
You'll have something valuable to show for your money, and what you buy
won't harm you, even if you shouldn't find it as useful as you hope."
"But suppose there's nothing in it, after all?" Alec had said. "Suppose
I buy my outfit and it doesn't do me a bit of good. What then? I can't
afford to throw away seventy-five dollars for nothing. I need every cent
I earn if I'm ever going to get anywhere."
"You _can't_ buy this outfit and have it do you no good," Elsa had
replied.
"I just guess I could. Suppose I bought the things and then didn't find
what I am after?"
"Even so, it would do you good."
"How?"
"Alec Cunningham! Sometimes I think you're the stupidest thing I ever
met. The idea of asking a question like that, when you've been working
and studying like mad for months to find out all you can about the
oyster business. Of course it will help you. If you find what you want,
you are benefited, aren't you? And if you don't find it, you're
benefited just the same."
"How?" Alec had inquired.
"Stupid. It isn't oyster fry you're after. It's truth. You'll get it, no
matter whether it pleases you or not. Won't you? You'll know whether
that bulletin is right or whether the old oystermen are right, won't
you? And that's worth a great deal more than seventy-five dollars, isn't
it? Why, Alec, if you don't go ahead and test the thing, you'll never be
happy. You'll fret and fret about it, thinking you ought to be planning
your work differently. And if you do go ahead, no matter what you
learn, you'll be satisfied. You'll know whether to follow old practices
or try new ones. Certainly it's worth a good deal to know you're right.
Then you'll know you must succeed if you keep on in the same way."
"Elsa," Alec had said, "I guess we are all fools at times. I had this
thing all thought out in my mind and my decision made; but when it came
to paying seventy-five dollars just to find out something, I hadn't the
courage to do it. You don't know how big seventy-five dollars looks to
me."
"Silly!" Elsa had replied. "Don't talk to me about lacking courage, when
you make a practice of jumping overboard to fish drowning men out of the
water. It isn't courage you lack. It's partnership. If you had somebody
to back you up, you'd never hesitate a second about this thing."
"Where did you learn so much?" Alec had answered, with genuine
admiration in his glance. "Do you know that's exactly what I need, and I
never before knew what it was that was wrong."
"Well, don't you let it worry you any longer, Alec," Elsa had replied.
"I understand you and what you are trying to do, and I think it's just
fine. And I'll stand back of you no matter what they say. I know Dad
will think you are foolish. He thinks anything new is foolish. But never
you mind. You just go ahead with your plans."
"That settles it," Alec had replied. "I _am_ going ahead, no matter if
it costs twice seventy-five dollars. I'm going to find out the truth at
any cost. Why, if a fellow doesn't know the truth, he's like a man who
doesn't know how to get to the place he's trying to reach. He may be
walking in the wrong direction. It wouldn't do him much good if he was a
good walker, would it? And just think how near I came to being a dummy
like that myself--all for the sake of seventy-five dollars!"
So the matter had been settled for good, and Alec had ordered the
articles, even laughing when it took almost his last cent to pay for
them. Now he had them at hand, and he was almost ready to begin his
search for the truth--the truth about the oyster fry.
He lacked only a boat. At first he thought he would buy a boat, but when
he found that the kind of boat he wanted, fitted with a good motor,
roofed over forward so as to make a little cabin, would cost several
hundred dollars, and take every cent he had made in his shell business,
he decided that he would rent a boat instead.
There was just such a boat as he wanted, for hire. It was about
twenty-five feet long, with a snug yet roomy cabin forward, a single
sail, which he could easily manage, and in the cockpit was a small
motor, neatly boxed in to protect it from the weather. The boxing could
be removed if one wished to run the engine. Alec secured the craft for a
reasonable sum, put his scientific outfit aboard, brought his clothes
and some bedding, and stocked the larder with sufficient provisions. Nor
did he forget his wireless outfit. The _Bertha B_, like all other
oyster craft, was to be overhauled during the summer, and be repaired
and repainted. Of necessity, Alec's wireless would have to be taken down
and he had already dismantled it and stowed it in a box before finding
the little sloop. Now he had only to carry his box aboard, and his
little craft was ready to sail.
The process of making ready went along merrily enough, but when it came
to sailing away, a trip all by himself suddenly lost its attractiveness.
Alec turned the situation over in his mind for some time.
Then he went to his partner in the shell business. "Jim," he said, "I'm
going out to the Bay in a little sloop I've hired, to study oyster
larvæ. Don't you want to go along?"
Hawley looked at him in blank amazement. "Alec," he said, "I'd do most
anything for you, but I sure don't want to go out to no Bay and study
oysters. I know all I want to about oysters already. Why, I been
ketchin' oysters for twenty years."
Alec appealed to Captain Bagley, with no better results. Finally he went
to the shipper.
"What fool's errand is this?" he exclaimed testily, when Alec laid the
situation before him. "Why, I've been expecting to keep you busy all
summer. I've got a job for you, helping about the boats. You can pay
your board and still be saving something all summer, instead of spending
all you've earned, like most of these fellows around here do."
Alec really felt grieved to refuse the offer. "Captain Rumford," he
said, "I appreciate everything you've done for me, and I thank you for
this offer. But I can't take it. This is the only opportunity I have to
learn about oysters themselves and I must take it."
"What nonsense are you up to now?" demanded the shipper.
"I'm going out to the Bay to study oysters," said Alec, quietly but
firmly. "I have my outfit all ready and I have hired a little sloop to
sail in. I'd be mighty glad if you would go out with me."
"Study oysters!" exploded the shipper. "Didn't you learn enough about
oysters on the _Bertha B_? And what better outfit do you want than a
pair of good dredges, eh? What are you about, anyway? What does all this
nonsense mean?"
It was useless to argue or explain. "I'm sorry we don't see things
alike, Captain," said Alec. "I believe there is more to learn about
oysters than most of us know, and I'm going to try to find it out. If
you won't go with me, will you allow me to take Elsa? I'll be back
early, sir; and I'll answer for her safety."
"Oh! I ain't afraid to trust the girl with you, boy, but you'll have a
dull time trying to study oysters, as you call it, with her on board.
She ain't one mite interested in oysters. She wants fun."
"I'll take a chance on that," said Alec, "if you are willing to let her
go."
Alec's confidence in Elsa was more than justified. He called her on the
telephone and stated the situation. She did not waste a moment in
unnecessary talk, but hung up the receiver the moment she understood
that Alec wanted her to help him, picked up a sweater and a
broad-brimmed hat, and hurried to the oyster pier in her little car.
Within a few minutes of the time Alec had called her, the two were
afloat.
The little craft that Alec had rented was an excellent boat. Built
rather for pleasure than for work, it was very comfortably fitted out.
Furthermore, it was the fastest little boat in the harbor. Its lines
were excellent, and it slipped through the water as quietly and
gracefully as a swan. Being equipped both with sail and engine, the
owner was independent of wind and weather, and could go where he liked,
when he liked. Unlike most of the boats in the harbor, this craft was
painted a dull, leaden gray, that almost matched the color of the water.
Alec was glad, for there would be none of the usual glare from the
summer sun shining on white woodwork. The glare on the _Bertha B_ often
made his eyes ache. He was glad that he would not be bothered in that
way on the little boat, for he would need to have his eyesight at its
very best.
With such an efficient helper aboard, Alec determined not to lose a
moment. He started the motor, and soon the little boat was shooting down
the river at a fast clip.
"It's queer this boat has no name," said Alec.
"Oh! It has a name all right, but the name was painted over when the
owner put this gray paint on. This is the _Osprey_."
"We couldn't have named her better," said Alec, "for we are fish-hawks
ourselves, to-day. That is, we are shell-fish hawks."
Elsa had often been aboard the boat before, but again she examined the
craft carefully, for she had long wanted her father to get a similar
boat.
"Oh, good!" she exclaimed, when she caught sight of Alec's wireless
instruments, packed away in the box. "If you ever happened to be out
over-night, we could talk to each other in the evening and I could know
how the work progresses."
"I expect to be out all the time until I get my work done," replied
Alec. "There is so much to be done and so little time to do it in."
"Won't I see you all this summer?" cried Elsa, and the look of real
disappointment on her face made Alec happy.
"Yes. I shall come home at the end of each week. Perhaps it won't take
me as long to do this work as I had expected. Why, do you know, I've
found out a tremendous lot about the currents and eddies and tides, just
from talking to Captain Bagley. And I had expected to have all that to
learn by myself. And I've been studying the captain's map of the
oyster-beds, and that has made my work easier, too. So much of the
bottom is already leased, that there isn't any use fooling around to try
to find out much about the grounds already staked out. What I've got to
do is to find out the best spots in the areas not yet staked."
"I don't agree with you at all," said Elsa. "What you want to know is
the whole truth, not part of the truth."
"But I can never hope to own land that is already staked out. Why, a
good bed costs thousands and thousands of dollars."
"Alec Cunningham," protested Elsa, trying to look severe, "you make me
so mad I could beat you. For a boy with so much energy and brains, you
say and do the most foolish things I ever heard. Now think over what
you've just been saying. Here you are working like a steam-engine, day
and night, to become an oyster-planter. You ought to know that if you
keep on this way, you'll get there sure. Everybody else knows it. And
yet you turn around and say you'll have to take the leavings, instead of
planning to take your pick. And you're going to find out half the truth
instead of the whole truth, and so cripple yourself. Isn't that enough
to make anybody mad at you?"
"But," expostulated Alec, "even if I do become a planter, I've got to
take what I can get."
"Of course you do. But there are more ways than one of getting a thing
done, aren't there? You've got this boat now, haven't you? You don't own
her, but, for the time being, she's yours. It might be the same with an
oyster-bed. My father often rents other men's beds, or works them on
shares, or buys the oysters in them. Some day you may want to do the
same thing. What you need to do is to know all the truth about these
oyster grounds. It isn't worth while to do half of a job. And that isn't
the kind of work you do, either. I know something about you, Alec
Cunningham. You've got no end of brains and energy, but your judgment
isn't always good. You need a guardian."
Both Elsa and Alec laughed heartily at the idea; then Alec's face grew
sober. "I'm beginning to realize that that isn't any joke," he said. "I
think it's because I haven't had any one to talk things over with. It's
pretty hard for a fellow to decide things right all by himself every
time." Then he smiled again, as he added, "I think it will be all right
hereafter, for now I do seem to have a guardian."
Elsa's face grew scarlet. "Oh! Alec," she cried, "I don't want you to
think I meant what I said--that is, not in the way it sounded. And if
you don't take back what you just said, I'll never talk to you again."
"I'll take it all back," said Alec, "just as Galileo took back his
assertion about the earth's turning round."
"How was that?" demanded Elsa.
"That's for you to find out," laughed Alec, and he would not tell her.
Soon they were in the open Bay. "Even if I do need to study all the
oyster grounds," said Alec, "I'm going to begin on the unstaked areas."
"Of course. You may find grounds as good there as any in the Cove. Then
you could get them direct from the state, at a minimum cost."
Alec spread out the map of the oyster-beds he had borrowed from Captain
Bagley. "We'll begin here," he said, "and work straight offshore. Are
you going to help me or just watch me?"
"Help you, of course. If I couldn't be of any more use than a
phonograph, there wasn't much sense in my coming."
"Then suppose you take soundings and test with this salinometer. The
instrument will give you the density of the water, and the thermometer
in the bulb will register the temperature. I've made several copies of
this map of the oyster-beds, and we'll mark our position with a cross
and write down beside it whatever we find. While you are doing that,
I'll be testing for larvæ."
Elsa took the sounding-line and dropped the lead into the waves, the
line paying out over her finger. When the lead came to rest on the
bottom, she noted the depth on the line. Then she took Alec's fountain
pen and set down the depth beside the cross Alec had made on the map.
"Just date it, too," said Alec, "and note down the stage of both wind
and tide. It's pretty well toward ebb now, and, if the book is right, we
oughtn't to expect to find many larvæ. They seem to drop down to the
bottom and anchor themselves during the ebb-tide to avoid being swept
out to sea. They come up when the tide turns, and we ought to find more
in the flood-tide than in the ebb."
Alec, all this time, was getting ready for his part of the work. He took
a galvanized bucket that belonged on the _Osprey_ and lowered it
overboard for a few moments so it would take on the temperature of the
Bay. Then he lifted it aboard, brimming with water, and set it in the
shade. Elsa thrust the salinometer and testing tube into the bucket to
cool. Then Alec attached his hose to his lift pump, and carefully
lowering the hose to a point within a few inches of the bottom, pumped
his own bucket, which had also been cooling in the waves, full of water.
It was the sample from the bottom, in which the oysters actually lie,
that he wanted to test.
Elsa drew her tube and salinometer out of the cooling bucket, and Alec
filled the tube with water from his own bucket. Elsa lowered the
salinometer into it and put the tube in the shade. Then she held the
bolting-cloth net over a tub, while Alec slowly emptied his bucket of
water from the bottom into it. The bucket contained ten quarts and Alec
had it brimming full. Gradually the water filtered through the net into
the tub, leaving on the inside of the net whatever sediment had been in
the water. In this sediment Alec expected to find the oyster larvæ. Ten
times they did this, until they had strained one hundred quarts of water
through the net. From time to time Alec threw the filtered water
overboard. Finally the net was lifted clear of the tub and the last of
the water allowed to filter through it. While Elsa held the net up, Alec
washed the sediment from the sides down into the tip of the net, with
water dipped from the tub. When the filtering process was fully
completed, and the sediment all concentrated in the tip of the net, Alec
carefully untied the draw string, opening the end of the net, and, using
his large rubber bulb pipette, washed the sediment into one of his
wide-mouthed settling bottles.
Now Elsa turned her attention to her salinometer. It was intended to
register the density or degree of saltiness of the water. Alec could
hardly restrain his impatience, so eager was he to see what the
instrument would tell.
"You know, Elsa," he said, "that sometimes the best seed grounds are in
waters of so low a density as to be entirely unsuitable for fattening or
even growing oysters. I've been thinking about that a whole lot, for
most of the oysters we dredged on the _Bertha B_ this year were very
poor. They hadn't fattened a bit. Captain Bagley said he never had
caught any good oysters in that bed. I've just been wondering if the
water wasn't of the proper density. Why, those oysters would have been
worth a whole lot more if they had been fat."
Elsa lifted the salinometer from the tube. "The water ought not to be
very dense here," said Alec, "for we're so near the shore and it's near
the end of the ebb-tide. There's fresh water pouring in all the time
from the tributaries."
They found, as Alec had surmised, a low degree of density. The reading
of the thermometer was also low. "That's what I expected, too,"
commented Alec. "This has been the coldest spring I can remember. I
thought for a time that I was deceived because I was out in the wind so
much, but the skipper said it really had been unusually cold this
spring. I asked him the other day. It doesn't look as though we'd get
much of a set this year. Why, that water is barely warm enough for
oysters to spawn at all. And this water close to shore ought to be
warmer than that farther out."
Elsa marked down on the chart the density and temperature.
"We forgot to make a note about the weather," said Alec. "Please add
that, also."
"It's going to take a long, long time to make a complete job," sighed
Alec, as Elsa noted down the weather. "I suppose I'll have to work at it
for several summers."
"I suppose you'll have to work at it every summer," said Elsa, "if you
intend to become a scientific oysterman. Don't you suppose conditions
change from year to year in the oyster-beds? They must, for lots of
times I've heard my father say he can't understand why the oysters in
some given bed don't fatten some years. There must be changes from year
to year. Whatever the reason was, I know his oysters have been poor
enough this year. I heard him telling mother the other night that it had
cost him hundreds of dollars because the oysters in some of his beds
hadn't fattened as they usually do."
From time to time Alec carefully lifted the settling bottle and examined
it. By the time a quarter of an hour had elapsed he said, "That looks
clear enough now to begin our count."
A distinct layer of sediment had fallen to the bottom of the bottle,
while the water near the surface was quite clear. This upper layer of
water Alec now carefully drew out with a pipette. The sediment became
more and more concentrated. When Alec had removed all the water he
dared, he washed the sediment into his graduated cylinder. Then, with a
medicine dropper, he transferred a very small portion of the sediment to
a watch crystal. Very gently, at the same time, he rotated the crystal
in his hand, slightly agitating it. Gradually the sediment seemed to
divide into two parts. About the edge of the liquid the lighter
particles of mud and other impurities seemed to collect, while the
heavier particles were concentrated in the centre of the glass. It was
in this central deposit of sediment that Alec expected to find the
oyster larvæ.
No wonder he was glad there was no glare of white paint to hurt his
eyes, for the work before him was enough to try even the best of vision.
The total amount of sediment in his watch crystal was so small that its
entire surface could be seen at one glance through the microscope. And
the oyster fry were presumably gathered in the tiniest of spaces in the
very centre of this tiny bit of sediment.
The actual counting of the larvæ might have troubled one unaccustomed to
the use of the microscope; but Alec was at home with the instrument. He
placed his watch crystal under the lens, adjusted the instrument to his
own vision, and with one of his wooden-handled needles began to pick
over the central windrow of debris. One by one he found and counted the
oyster larvæ, or what he thought were larvæ. There was no question
whatever about the largest larvæ. They possessed a reddish-purple hue
that is found in the larvæ of no other bivalve. Also there was a
distinct beak or bulge in the shell next to the hinge that he had read
about in his bulletin. So he was sure of the identity of the larger
oyster fry. But when it came to those more recently spawned, Alec could
not be so sure. He knew that there was no certain way to distinguish
between very young oyster and clam larvæ except by measuring them. This
he was not equipped to do. Nor did it make any material difference
whether Alec ascertained the exact number of larvæ in the water or not.
What he was after was to find the relative quantities of larvæ in
different places and at different times.
Under the microscope Alec found the oyster larvæ were a very beautiful
sight indeed. The reddish-purple color was very similar in hue to the
color of the muscle scar on the shell of an adult oyster. After the
death of the oyster, Alec knew, this vivid color rapidly disappeared.
Elsa was as much pleased as Alec had been, when she looked through the
microscope and saw the brilliant-hued oyster fry.
Little by little, Alec transferred the contents of the bottle to his
watch crystal and counted the larvæ. He found only a few dozen in all.
That did not surprise him for he had not expected to find many. The fact
in itself meant very little until he learned whether other portions of
the oyster grounds contained relatively more or fewer larvæ under
similar conditions. That was what he most wanted to know--where the
oyster fry collected, so he could do as the book suggested, and get his
shells under them.
Now that he had started the work, Alec meant to keep at it until he
found where the very greatest number of larvæ were concentrated, and
then try to secure the ground beneath. If he found good beds unstaked,
he could get them direct from the state. If some one else already had
claim to them, he could work with a view to acquiring them at some
future time. For the friendly scolding Elsa had given him had settled
the matter in his own mind instantly. He wasn't going to do any half-way
job.
Before noon, Alec had made tests in a number of places, working straight
out from the shore as he had planned. That gave him a sort of
cross-section of the bed, as it were. He decided that he would go over
the same ground again at once to see if the flood-tide made any
difference in his count. For by this time the tide had almost finished
running out.
At dinner time Alec and Elsa headed the _Osprey_ for a little point of
land near by. A tree growing back on the point offered shade. They
managed to get ashore, though it bothered them to find a place where
they could get near to firm ground with the tide so low. Then they
fastened the _Osprey_, and made their way through the rank marsh
growths, to the tree. They made a little fire, slung a coffee-pot over
the blaze, and toasted some Wieners while the coffee was cooking.
After dinner they went back to the boat and resumed their work, making
tests in exactly the same places they had tested in the forenoon. And in
the flood-tide they found many more oyster fry than they had in the ebb.
"Looks as though there wasn't much use working on an ebb-tide," said
Alec, "though, of course, I might find out after a while what the
relative number is in the two tides. But there is a lot I can do in
ebb-tide as well as in flood. I can take soundings just as well, and I
can examine the bottles even better. I'm going to try to make a sort of
topographical map of the bottom. It'll be a poor enough thing, at best,
but it will help me to understand about the currents. Then I can examine
the currents themselves at flood-tide for larvæ."
Their supper they ate on the _Osprey_. Then Alec hoisted the sail, and
in the gentle breeze that still blew, and with the incoming tide to
carry them, they sailed silently and swiftly homeward through the sunset
and the gathering dusk. Very different was the river from the stream as
Alec had first seen it. Now hardly a boat was visible. They passed only
one, _The Shark_, anchored apparently for the night.
"Elsa," said Alec, as they neared the harbor, "it has been a wonderful
day. It has meant everything to me. It will make my whole summer
happier. I see clearly enough that this job is going to become mighty
tedious. But the remembrance of this day will help me to stick to it,
even if I do have to work alone."
"You won't be so much alone as you think," replied Elsa. "You have your
wireless, and we can call each other every noon and night. We can talk
in the early evening and after Arlington sends out the time and the
weather news. If you are going to be out on the water so much, you will
want to get the weather forecasts, sure. It makes me nervous to think of
you all alone out on the Bay. All sorts of things might happen to you."
"Nonsense," replied Alec. "I'll be as safe and snug as a bug in a rug."
"I hope so. But when I think of you all alone out on that great expanse
of water, it makes me shiver. You might be caught in a big storm, or
pirates might rob you."
"I thought you had such good judgment," taunted Alec. "Now listen to
you."
"That's the very reason I'm cautioning you. Besides, who has a better
right to do so than your guardian?"
They both laughed at the joke, then Elsa said: "When we talk to each
other, let's telegraph. It takes longer, but not so many people can
understand what we say. Since you installed our wireless telephone,
everybody in the neighborhood has been getting one."
"All right, we'll telegraph. I'll call you up as soon as Arlington is
done sending. Then you'll know that the bogey man hasn't got me yet. But
seriously, Elsa, there isn't a particle of danger. Now I must hustle
back to the _Osprey_ or I may not get my wireless rigged up in time."
Could Alec have seen ahead through the darkness that was fast enfolding
the world, he would not have felt so sure about the absence of danger.
Once before he had thought himself safe when death stalked close to his
heels.