“It would probably not be any use to telegraph to the British Consul in Boston to-night,” said he, “for the office would be closed by this time; and, unless your other lifeboat had been picked up by some steamer equipped with wireless, there would probably be no information about her as yet at the radio station. The quickest and best way, both of giving and receiving information, would be to wait until to-morrow morning and then to report to the British Consulate by long-distance telephone. In that way you can get an answer at once, and the Consul will let you know if he is in touch with the other members of your crew. But won’t you come over to the Bethel for a while and make us a little visit?”
“Why, thank you,” answered the Chairman. “We would like to go, I am sure, and I would especially like the boys to see your place.”
The boat’s crew consisted of Dick, Tom, Perkins, and Young; and, on arriving at the Bethel, they found half a dozen seafaring men reading the newspapers and magazines, or playing checkers. When they heard from the chaplain what had happened, they all gathered around the Skipper and plied him with questions about the fire and the wreck, and everything that had occurred since. The Skipper had taken an observation at noon the very day they abandoned the Monmouth, and so was able to tell them just where they had left the burning wreck. He answered all their questions clearly and fully, giving many nautical details which are always interesting to seafaring men.
“I guess you must feel,” dryly remarked an old salt, “as if you had just dropped off the gridiron.”
“Yes,” answered the Skipper with a smile, “but not into the fire. First we dropped into the water to cool off a bit, and then we dropped into the arms of our friends.
“Say, Chaplain,” continued he, addressing their host, “isn’t there something in the Good Book about being ‘covered with His Wings’?”
“Why, yes,” answered the chaplain, “‘He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.’”
There was a pause—and all were silent, as they seemed to reflect upon the words quoted by the chaplain.
“Well,” remarked the Skipper meditatively, “I have seen a good many vessels in my life, but I never saw one just like that little schooner we came off just now,—the Bright Wing, they call her. I shouldn’t wonder if she was one of them wings of the Almighty that we are told to trust in.”
“She might be one of the little feathers,” said the Chairman, with a smile. “She floats lightly enough upon the water!”