They did not ship another wave, and by the time the boys had bailed the Clara fairly dry, it seemed to Fred that the wind was not blowing so hard. He spoke of it to Larry.
"Yes, she's slowing up, I reckon," admitted Larry. "But don't fool yourself that all the damage is done. When a wind gets started, seems like it has to blow all its tricks and do all the damage it can, then it goes off to find a new place to torment."
"Let's—let's ask riddles," suggested Polly, in a voice that to her dismay persisted in sounding shaky. "We can't have supper yet," and she managed a little laugh that coaxed a wavering smile to the serious faces surrounding her.
"Perhaps we'll have supper at home," Fred said, trying to cheer them up in his own way. "Won't Mother laugh when we come back with our lunches still in the boxes?"
Larry said nothing, but his eyes scanned the dark clouds anxiously.
"I'll ask you a riddle," Polly announced. "Now listen—it's a brand new one Daddy told me. When does the ocean resemble a horse that has broken loose from his stable?"
"Huh, when it kicks everything in sight," Ward said, scowling at the choppy sea.
Polly laughed and admitted that he "sounded right."
"But that isn't the answer," she declared firmly.