“A bargain sale,” said he. “The very thing.”
“An’ Jolly Harbour’s the place,” said the skipper.
“Then homeward bound!” shouted Archie.
They ran into Jolly Harbour on the wings of a brisk southerly wind––and unfortunately in the dusk brought up hard and fast on Blow-Me-Down Rock.
Aground! They were hard and fast aground on Blow-Me-Down Rock in Jolly Harbour at high tide. A malignant sea made a certainty of it. It lifted the Spot Cash––drove her on––and gently deposited her with a horrifying list to starboard. Archie Armstrong wrung his hands and stamped the deck. Where was the first of September now? How was the firm to––to––what was it Sir Archibald had said?––yes; how was the firm to “liquidate its obligations” on the appointed day and preserve its honour?
“By gettin’ the Spot Cash afloat,” said Skipper Bill, tersely.
“And a pretty time we’ll have,” groaned Archie.
“I ’low,” Bill drawled, “that we may be in for a prettier time still.” 269
“Sure, it couldn’t be worse,” Billy Topsail declared.