The message read:
| St. John’s, August 6. Archibald Armstrong II, On board “Spot Cash,” Tilt Cove. Please oblige order “Black Eagle” St. John’s forthwith. This your authority. Armstrong & Company. |
CHAPTER XXVIII
In Which the “Spot Cash” is Caught By a Gale In the Night and Skipper Bill Gives Her Up For Lost
It was blowing up when Archie returned to the Spot Cash. There was a fine rain in the wind, too; and a mist––hardly yet a fog––was growing denser on the face of a whitening sea. Nothing to bother about yet, of course: only a smart breeze and a little tumble, with thick weather to make a skipper keep his eyes open. But there was the threat of heavy wind and a big sea in gray sky overhead and far out upon the water. Tilt Cove was no place for the Spot Cash to lie very long; she must look for shelter in Sop’s Arm before night.
“Archie, b’y,” said Bill o’ Burnt Bay, in the cozy forecastle with the boys, “there’s something queer about this here Black Eagle.”
“I should say so!” Archie sneered. “It’s the first time I ever knew my father not to play fair.” 240
“Bosh!” Skipper Bill ejaculated.