“If you want any of it, you’ll have to fight for it, Chucklehead,” taunted Jim.
But when Don saw the light of mischief that leaped into Terry’s eyes he promptly vetoed the proposition.
“Nothing doing, you two,” he warned. “That would be all right if we were out on the boat, but we’re not. You can’t roughhouse in here. You’ll have to move over, Jim.”
Jim sighed. “Suppose I’ll have to. But anywhere else Terry would have to win his half of this bed! I got here first!”
On the following day, after the boys had enjoyed a splendid night’s rest, Mr. Ferris took the day off to entertain them. Although the boys did not know very much about the gentleman they did know that he had been very intimate with their father several years ago, and so they appreciated his efforts in their behalf. They spent most of the day simply enjoying themselves around the house, and in the afternoon Don proposed that they visit some chandler shops near the waterfront.
“We might be able to pick up something useful for the sloop,” he suggested. “We broke the frame of one porthole, and I’d like to hunt up a new one.”
Mr. Ferris knew the location of several ship shops and the boys visited one or two of them, but were unable to find a porthole frame to fit the one which had been broken on the Lassie. After they had visited the larger shops Don was ready to give it up.
“I guess we’ll have to order one, to be made special,” he said.
But Mr. Ferris knew of one more shop that they had not visited. It was down in a small alley that ran off the docks, he said, and while it was not much of a place, he felt that they might have the good luck to find what they were in search of. So they drove down to the docks in his car and parked near the mouth of the alley. Midway down this dark street they found the place, a dark little hole in the wall, and they entered.
The proprietor, a little humpbacked man, appeared with wonderful rapidity from a green curtain at the back of the darkened store and waited on them. Don looked over his badly arranged stock of ship fittings in the corner and Terry and Jim wandered around the store, examining various articles. The store was not in any way neat, ropes, clocks, wheels, anchors, glasses and other articles being piled carelessly all over the place. Mr. Ferris stood with Don, looking over the porthole fittings.