[There Was Excitement for a Minute and Everybody Came Running]
CATTY ATKINS—SAILORMAN
CHAPTER I
It seems as if Catty and I have a lot of luck, and this summer we had more than usual, for Mr. Browning, who lived in New York, and was interested in all kinds of businesses, invited us to go for a cruise on his yacht. He was out to our town to see Mr. Atkins on some sort of business, and before we knew it Catty and I were friends with him, and took him fishing, and went around with him—and the day he left he said we were to come for the cruise.
We were to start in July, and it was hard for us to wait for the time to come around, but it did come. We were kind of surprised that it actually did, but as Mr. Atkins says, if you only wait long enough any time will come. We packed our stuff and took the train, and when we woke up next morning we were coming into New York.
Mr. Browning met us and we went to a big hotel, the biggest I ever saw, and after breakfast we got into his automobile and drove out into the country on Long Island. In about an hour we got to the town where Mr. Browning kept his yacht anchored off a club. We didn’t know what kind of a boat it was going to be, but you can bet we were anxious to find out. There were about a hundred yachts anchored there—all kinds, from great steam yachts and enormous sailing yachts to little thirty-foot launches.
There was a power dinghy tied to the float and a man in it dressed in “whites.” The name Albatross was on the dinghy in gold letters, so we knew it belonged to Mr. Browning, for that was the name of his yacht. Mr. Browning walked out on the float and says, “Hello, Naboth. Everything ready?”
“Ready as human hands kin git it—considerin’,” says Naboth.
“Help get the baggage aboard. Here’s the rest of our crew, Naboth. Catty Atkins and Wee-wee Moore.”