"The ice was fast breaking and moving out. When they caught my hail they were not long about pushing the boat to where I lay. Nor, you may be sure, was I long about getting aboard."
The doctor laughed nervously.
"Doctor," said the stranger, "how did they know that you were in distress?"
"Oh," said the doctor, "it was Billy's father. He was worried, and walked around by the shore. When he found that I was not home, he roused the neighbours."
"As the proverb runs," said the stranger, "the longest way round is sometimes the shortest way home."
"Yes," said the doctor, "I chose the longest way."
CHAPTER XVI
Describing How Billy Topsail Set out for Ruddy Cove with Her Majesty's Mail and Met with Catastrophe