The old man continued his chatter, ignoring the boys, who had long been accustomed to such idle talk and whose vocabulary lacked most of the words he used. It was noticeable that his English, which he spoke in these random monologues, was once again taking on a better structure and phrasing, but when he spoke directly to the boys, it relapsed sharply, reverting to their clumsy, primitive ways and constructions.
"But crabs weren't plentiful in those days," the old man continued absently. "They were caught, and they were a wonderful delicacy. The fishing season was only a month long, but now you can catch crabs all year round. Imagine, you can catch as much crab as you want, any time you want, from the foam of the waves breaking on Cliff House Beach!"
A sudden commotion among the goats caused the boys to jump to their feet. The hounds gathered around the fire rushed to join their snarling companion who was guarding the goats, while the goats themselves charged toward their human protectors. Six thin gray figures slid down the sandy mounds and confronted the alert dogs. Edwin threw an arrow that missed, but Hair-lip, with his slingshot—like the one David used in his battle with Goliath—hurled stones into the air that hissed with rapid flight. These stones landed directly among the wolves, snaking away into the deep depths of the eucalyptus forest.