At the wheel was a man not over middle height, compact and strong-looking, with a clear, ruddy complexion, dressed in a pair of khaki trousers and gray flannel shirt, a striking contrast to the officers of the destroyer. The new skipper wasted no time in greetings, but with eyes intent on the movements of the motor-boat just shoving off, reached for the starboard jib sheet, pulled it in and held it till the sailboat payed off to port and gathered steerageway. Then, trimming the jib over, he settled back comfortably and said, “Well, how are you? Had a nice trip across the Bay, didn’t you?”
“Beautiful; those destroyers glide along like a dream. This is a cozy little boat you’ve got, Jim; where’s your crew?”
“You’re my crew to-day,” said the skipper. “Lord! I don’t want a crew killing time about the deck. That’s the advantage of this size and rig; I can handle her alone, and yet she’s big enough for comfortable cruising, and safe in any sea there is. I couldn’t afford a crew if I wanted one; so I’m glad I don’t. Take your valise below and have a look round, don’t you want to? Take the port bunk, my gear’s on the starboard.”
His friend acted on the suggestion and with a landsman’s clumsiness engineered himself and his valise down the hatch into the coziest, snuggest little cabin he had ever seen. Presently he returned to the cockpit.
“Looks like a nice little place to duck in out of the wet.”
“It is rather a nice little cabin,” said the skipper. “To tell the truth, this boat just suits me, and I feel as much at home on her as I do anywhere in the world. I used to fancy something fast and racy as my ideal of a sailboat, but as I get older I incline more to this sort of thing, seaworthy and comfortable, fit to ride out any gale that blows.”
“You don’t look so awfully old yet,” said the other.
“I don’t suppose I do,” said the skipper, “but if I remember rightly I’m only a year younger than you.”
“That’s so,” said the other. “I’m forty, and they tell me I look five years older than I am. But you don’t look any older than you did in college.”
“I’m generally supposed to be still in the twenties. I judge that my sheltered and quiet existence in the laboratory, together with lots of outdoor life, camping, cruising, etc., has kept me young, while battling with the storms of a busy world has been ageing you.”