He paused occasionally in this occupation, squinting his eyes and frowning as if puzzled over a thought or a phrase. When he had come nearly to the end of his sheet of paper he stopped writing, read his composition carefully by the dim light, and nodded an approval.
Now he climbed back to the float again and crossed to where the second launch lay. It was a trim, well-kept little craft, a fact that he noted with an involuntary sigh when he thought of his own. There was a canvas cover that fitted neatly over the engine; this had been put in place carefully. He stepped into the cock-pit, lifted one side of the canvas and thrust his note underneath it.
"They can't miss that," he remarked, as he retreated to his own craft.
Immediately following, he loosed his mooring, started his engine, and backed out into the river.
It was late when the dingy launch rested once more in the rock-bound cove and the boatman walked up to his cabin. He was whistling gently and cheerfully, a lantern swinging in his hand. Entering the cabin and closing the door behind him, he drew the chair up to the table, fished the Social Register out of his pocket, and began another absorbed study of the C's.
"That's some family, believe me," he commented. "Strong on the Mayflower stuff, I notice. Been here ever since there was a New York. Pipe the old man's club-list! Not so big, maybe, but class—whew! And the missus—oh, yes; she's a Daughter, all right—three or four kinds of a Daughter. Fifth Avenue, Newport, Narragansett—uh-huh. That's the stuff!
"Mentions the yacht, too. I wonder how many limousines. I suppose the master mechanic takes care of those.
"And—well, well, look who's here! Brother C. Alfred. Fell down a bit on brother's name, it strikes me. 'Alfred' doesn't quite class up. Ought to be either very flossy or very plain; that's the way most of 'em seem to run. But I notice Alfred is there with the Harvard thing. And all of papa's clubs, too.
"And here's grandfather, and great-grandfather, and the rest of 'em back of that. And mother—she's a Van Arsdale. That's nice; that's bully! She kicks in with some considerable ancient lineage herself."
He grinned at the Chalmers page.