“Would you?” queried Captain Tom.
“Don’t poke fun at me,” protested young Randolph.
“I’m not poking fun,” rejoined Halstead, soberly. “Did you ever have any experience out on deep water?”
“I’ve been on sailing craft a good deal, and out fo’ two trips on a motor cruiser,” answered the Florida boy, in a low voice.
“How’d you like to come out on the ‘Restless’ for a while?”
“Do yo’ mean it?” asked Jeff, anxiously.
“I certainly do. Still, at the same time, I must warn you that your duties on the ‘Restless’ would be mixed. You’d have to cook, be steward and take an occasional trick at the motors or the wheel.”
“I don’t care what it is,” retorted Jeff, stubbornly, “so long as it’s something on deep salt water, and on a motor boat at that.”
“Make a good landing then,” proposed Tom Halstead, smiling, yet serious, “and we’ll talk it all over on shore.”
Jeff Randolph laid the boat in at the pier without a scratch or a jar, with just enough headway and none to spare. Tom leaped ashore at the bow, Joe at the stern, and the little craft was made fast at her berth.