As Tom Halstead peered through the night ahead he felt another ecstatic thrill. It was all so fine, so glorious! No doubt it was better for him, at this moment, that he could not foresee all that lay ahead of him.
CHAPTER VII DICK TAKES THE RESCUE BOAT TRICK
It wasn't long before First Officer Ab Perkins also climbed the stairs to the bridge.
"If this craft runs on the rocks, it won't be for want of officers at their post," laughed Skipper Tom, gleefully.
"I couldn't keep away," confessed Ab. "It's the first time in my life I've ever stood on a real bridge by right. Oh, but this is a different thing altogether from the tiny bridge-deck of a fifty-foot boat!"
Third Officer Costigan paid no heed to the motor boat boys. Though Costigan had never held higher rank than he now enjoyed, standing watch on a bridge was no new sensation for him. The young Irishman thought, mainly, of the time when he would have the "Panther" through the Gate and well off the coast. Then he could turn in below.
Presently a fifth person joined the little squad on the bridge. It was Joseph Baldwin.
"You've a clear night and an easy sea, Captain," smiled the owner. "It's a fortunate sort of start for you."