Twenty minutes later our friends were on board again, and we were getting up the anchor. Jimmy Toppan, the Chief, and Sprague went below to consult a chart, while the rest of us got the yacht under way. When they came back on deck the Chief took the wheel, announcing:
"Lanesport it is."
"Why Lanesport?" asked Pete.
"It's the nearest town on the mainland to Bailey's Harbor," said
Jimmy Toppan.
"Then I should think you'd better steer clear of it."
"Oh, they won't have heard anything yet," answered Sprague, lying down on a seat, with his banjo. And he added: "Assisted by Simon, I will now give you a little song."
"Do you think we'll find the 'Hoppergrass' at Lanesport?" inquired
Ed Mason.
"We can but try. We'll do a little sleuth-work there, anyhow."
"Who will you inquire from?"
"Oh, anybody. Do not interrupt me again, or I will sing 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.' Honest, I will."