“It’s only the wind. I don’t believe the thermometer has dropped one point.”
Fred and Jack had managed to go to sleep. But less than half an hour after the twins retired a second time all of the boys were wide awake, and with good reason.
The Firefly was pitching and tossing in the teeth of what seemed to be little short of a hurricane. Jack all but rolled to the floor and had all he could do to stand upright. Then came a crash on the partition separating the stateroom occupied by himself and Fred from that used by the twins, and this was followed immediately by a yell from Randy and a burst of laughter from Andy.
“Something went wrong in there, that’s sure!” cried Fred. “Let’s get a few clothes on and see how bad this storm is getting.”
The boys donned their sneakers and also their trousers and coats, and then Jack and Fred went to join their cousins. They found Randy sitting on a stationary stool rubbing his elbow and Andy sitting on the lower berth laughing at him.
“Randy has been trying to do circus stunts,” explained the twin’s brother. “He got out of the top berth because he couldn’t sleep any more, and then he crawled back to find his cap that I had thrown up when we went to bed. Just then the yacht gave an extra heavy lurch and he slid right off the top berth and went kerbang into the partition.”
“Yes, and I almost went through the woodwork,” came ruefully from Randy. “Hit right on my elbow, too! Gee, I’ll bet it’s black and blue!”
“Well, be glad it wasn’t your head,” said Fred, who could readily see that Randy was not much hurt. What really did hurt the twin was the fact that his brother was laughing at him, for an instant later he grabbed up a pillow and hurled this at Andy’s head, following it an instant later with a shoe.
“Hi! Hi! Stop the bombardment!” cried Andy, in mock terror. “Don’t you know the war is over and nothing is left of it but the debts? Stop, I say!” and he dodged behind Jack.
“Listen! We’ve got something to tell you,” said Randy suddenly and thereupon he and his twin related what they had heard when they had gone on deck to get the air.