The Admiral had declined staying for tea that first night. He had looked the entire place over, and, as Polly remarked, noticed points they never would have thought of, the drainage, the shingles, and the condition of the cellar. He even went down to the boat landing, and examined its supports and noted the high tide marks along its piling.
“Seas went all the way over there, didn’t they, Tom?” he asked, casually.
“Well, yes, sir,” acknowledged Tom. “They always do slosh over some in heavy weather. Ours do too. When the February gales hit the Sickle, I tell you, we all jam down pretty close to keep from being blown clean off.”
“How about the bay? Do you get many bad puffs out there? It looks fairly well sheltered.”
Tom nodded his head with comradely understanding. As he told his father that night, the Admiral and he were good mates, and understood each other perfectly.
“Oh, it blows up now and then, but if any storms should hit us, don’t you worry. Father and I’ll keep a weather eye on the Knob. You see the beach patrol passes about six hundred yards over to seaward. Sometimes I tramp it with the men from the Station, because I’m going as soon as I’m old enough.”
“You couldn’t do a braver thing, my lad,” responded the Admiral, thoughtfully. “I feel like saluting every time I see one of the boys who wear the fouled anchor on their sleeve. They are a courageous lot.”
While Aunty Welcome was busy preparing supper, the girls went off down the beach, hatless and happy, with sweaters buttoned to their chins, for the evenings were chilly along the shore.
Polly and Sue were ahead, and the rest followed as they pleased. The tide was in full and high, and they laughed and shouted to see the long, foamy swirls of water slip up the beach, up and up, each time a little bit farther, till they all sprang back for fear of wet feet.
“Doesn’t it make you think of all the sea stories you ever read?” cried Polly, her eyes shining, her long curls blown back by the wind. “When I feel the wind like that in my face, I want to be a viking, and stand right up in the prow of a boat, and sail, sail right out into the sunset.”