“Yes, Laddie has a crab,” said Daddy Bunker.  “Wait, now, I’ll get it in the net!”

[Illustration:  The crab had hold of Laddie’s bait in both claws. Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom’s.—­Page 120]

Laddie’s father dipped the net down into the water, shoved it under the crab, chunk of meat and all, and lifted it suddenly out of the water.  The crab had hold of Laddie’s bait in both claws, and before the creature could let go it had been caught.

“Oh, look at him wriggle!” cried Rose.

“Now I’ll dump him into the basket,” said Daddy Bunker.  He turned the net upside down over the peach basket.  Out dropped Mr. Crab, letting go of the chunk of meat, which Laddie pulled out by the string.  The crab crawled about sideways on the bottom of the basket, raising its claws into the air and clashing them together, at the same time opening and shutting the pinching part.

“That’s the way a crab fights,” said Cousin Tom.  “And sometimes two big crabs will fight so hard that one pulls a claw off the other.  You have caught a fine, big one, Laddie.”

“A dandy,” agreed Laddie.

“And I’ve got one, too!” cried Vi.  “Oh, he’s pulling like anything!”

She really had a crab on her line.  Cousin Tom netted it for her, and it turned out to be larger than Laddie’s.

“I think the crab fishing will be good to-day,” said Daddy Bunker.

And so it turned out.  From then on each one began to catch the pinching creatures, the older folks using the net when the children had bites.  Once Russ tried to use the net himself, but he was not quick enough with it, and the crab let go of the chunk of meat and swam quickly away.

“He was a dandy big one, too!” said Russ regretfully.

Mun Bun and Margy each one caught a crab, with the help of their mother, and Rose, Violet and Laddie had good luck, also.  Cousin Tom and Daddy Bunker, of course, caught the most.  Mother Bunker helped the children land theirs in the net.  And, after about an hour of fishing, the peach basket was full of the big-clawed crabs.

“I think we have enough,” said Cousin Tom.  “We will take them home and cook them.  Then we can eat them cold-boiled with lemon juice on them, or they can be made into a salad.”

“Catching crabs is lots of fun,” said Russ.

“Eating them is good, too,” said his father.

They rowed back home, and found Cousin Ruth waiting for them at the bungalow.

“Oh, you did have good luck,” said Cousin Tom’s wife.  “A whole basketful!  Well, I’ll soon have the water boiling and we’ll cook them.”

The basket full of live crabs was set in the kitchen, and the six little Bunkers and the others went out on the porch to rest and wait for the water to boil.  Russ, a little later, wanted a drink, and, going into the kitchen, he turned to go to the sink.  He was barefooted, and suddenly he felt a sharp pain on one toe.