But Dave Darrin stepped forward with:
"Skipper, can't I hold the wheel for you?"
"Have you ever handled a boat before, sir?" Tom queried, giving this young man, who was in civilian dress, a keen though good-humored look.
"At least twice," Darrin modestly assured him.
"How big a boat?"
"Up to sixteen thousand tons," Darrin replied, without cracking a smile.
"A wise man is always cautious, Halstead," sang out Lieutenant Prescott gleefully, "but the man you're talking to is Ensign Darrin of the United States Navy."
"Take the wheel, Mr. Darrin," replied the youthful skipper, with a grin, while Joe, halfway up the engine-room steps, took in the scene. "I heard Mr. Darrin introduced merely as 'mister,'" Halstead explained to the other officers. "I thought he was either an Army man, or some civilian friend who had come along."
Skipper Tom Halstead then went below to his stateroom, while observant Joe Dawson noted that Darrin handled the wheel with skill.
"Shall I give you a little more speed, Mr. Darrin?" called Joe softly.