Had Scott Clemmons overheard the criticism which Bemis Perry made of his speech he would have been overwhelmed with confusion, for though the young South Carolinian said but one word, and used slang, it was to the point, for he simply said:
“Rats!”
There was another criticism offered also, and by Herbert Nazro, who said with a wicked little laugh:
“Go tell that to the marines, Clemmons.”
After this episode Clemmons seemed more constrained than ever in his conduct toward Mark Merrill. He seemed positively uneasy in his presence.
At last, after a visit to several ports in the Mediterranean the prow of the cruiser was turned homeward, for a stop was to be made upon the New England coast.
It was a stormy passage home, keeping the young tars constantly busy reefing, pulling, and setting more sail, and giving them a thorough experience in the life of a sailor.
In the last storm not far off the coast, the cruiser had sprung her mainmast, but fortunately the gale blew itself out, and a calm fell upon the sea. The next morning the shores of New England were in view.
The weather was hazy and sultry, the barometer was steadily falling, and Captain De Long and his lieutenants viewed the weather with anxiety.
There was a huge black mass gathering to seaward, and as the day passed it began to rise slowly, though the deadest of calms still rested upon the sea.