"If you could, I have one for you."
"You mean your son Donald?"
"Yes. He is a manly, fine lad, but he has been a little bit coddled by his mother and sisters. Now he and these other boys appear to get along famously, and they are just the sort of lads I should like my boy to associate with."
The naval officer nodded.
"I never saw or heard of such another lot of lads as those comprising the Eagle Patrol," he said with emphasis; "although, of course," he continued, "there are probably many such enrolled in the ranks of the Boy Scouts."
"I don't doubt it. Donald is a different lad already since he joined the Wolf Patrol. Now this cruise of mine will be dull at best to the lad. You see I am combining business with pleasure, and he will be thrown much on his own resources. He has seen the West Indies before, so there would not be much that is novel to him in the scenery or the people. What do you say to my proposal?"
Cigar in hand, the great man of Wall Street paused for an answer, knitting his famous black eyebrows as he did so.
"Why, if Donald is anxious to go, I don't see why it could not be arranged," was the ensign's reply; "but why not ask the lad himself?"
"And your boys, too, of course," was the rejoinder; "they might object to adding an outsider to their number."
"Not much fear of that," smiled the officer; "why, you would think they had been lifelong friends. Hark at that!"