At Ruddy Cove, that night, when Archie was landed from the Wind and Tide, a turmoil of amazement instantly gave way to the very briskest consultation the wits of the place had ever known.
“There’s no punt can make Burnt Bay the night,” Billy Topsail’s father declared.
“Nor the morrow night if the wind changes,” old Jim Grimm added.
“Nor the next in a southerly gale,” Job North put in.
“There’s the Wind an’ Tide,” Tom Topsail suggested.
“She’s a basket,” said Archie; “and she’s slower than a paddle punt.” 302
“What’s the weather?”
“Fair wind for Burnt Bay an’ a starlit night.”
“I’ve lost the express,” said Archie, excitedly. “I must––I must, I tell you!––I must catch the mixed.”
The Ruddy Cove faces grew long.