“Mr. Harvey is certainly a prince,” declared Jimmy enthusiastically. “He answers questions without making you feel as though you were a natural born fool for having asked them, the way some teachers I know do.”
“Yes, we’ll have to take advantage of Mr. Harvey’s invitation and visit him often while we’re down here,” said Bob. “He even promised that he’d give me lessons in sending when he had time.”
“Good enough!” exclaimed Joe. “It’s lots of fun receiving, but that’s only half the game. We ought to be able to send, too.”
“If you like, we’ll study up on the code a little this evening,” said Bob. “I brought the book with me. We’ve already got so much from it that we ought to be able now to finish up.”
“I agree to that,” said Joe, and so that was settled.
“How quiet the ocean is to-day,” remarked Herb, as they noted how little surf there was and how lazily the waves were breaking on the beach.
“You wouldn’t think there was anything cruel about it to look at it now,” said Jimmy. “And yet we know that it is about the most cruel thing in the world.”
“It’s taken millions of lives without the least thought of mercy,” put in Bob thoughtfully. “To-day it’s like a tiger asleep. But it’s a tiger just the same, and when it wakes up—then look out!”
[CHAPTER XIII—EXCITING SPORTS]
By this time the boys were almost home, and their pace was accelerated as they drew nearby the sound of a musical and welcome dinner bell. In fact, walking seemed entirely too slow under the circumstances, and the last hundred yards was covered in close to record time.