"I guess I'm safe," he remarked.
"You are, lad. But you had better take off those wet clothes, or you'll take cold. You'll find a dry suit in the cuddy."
This was sensible advice, and Nelson followed it. As soon as he had donned the other suit he sat down and told how he had chased Billy Darnley on board the Victory, and of what had followed.
"Humph! that captain is pretty hard-hearted," remarked Clarence Bell.
"He ought to be arrested," put in Bob Chalmer. "You were lucky to get away. I guess that thief is out of your reach now."
"Well, anyway, I left him as sick as he could be," said Nelson, and could not help but laugh over Darnley's woe-begone appearance. "He'll have enough of the sea by the time he gets back."
From the young men he learned that they had been out for two days on a fishing trip. They had had good luck, as the mess on board proved, and they were now sailing for Manasquan Inlet, where they were boarding for a few weeks.
"We belong in New York," said Bob Chalmer later. "And I guess we can see you through all right."
"I'll be much obliged, if you would," said Nelson. "I'll pay you back as soon as I reach the city." And then he told of the news stand, and the business he and Van Pelt were doing.
The breeze was as brisk as ever, and it veered around, so that the sloop made the Inlet without difficulty. They ran up the river to a small collection of cottages and boathouses known as Reefer's. Here they tied up, and Nelson went ashore, wearing the old fishing suit he had borrowed.