"Yes," agreed Tom. "A middlin' long trick; but it's only making up for lost time, so to speak."
"There's hot cocoa below," announced the Patrol Leader.
"He insisted upon being look-out man," remarked Mr. Armitage after Boldrigg had disappeared below. "I offered to send for'ard a relief, but he wouldn't let me. He's been up in the bows ever since ten o'clock. He's certainly earned his passage. Sleep well, Peter?"
"Toppingly, sir," replied the lad. It was his first night on board while the boat was under way, and in spite of the motion and the rumble and vibration of the propeller, he had slumbered soundly and well.
"Good!" rejoined the Scoutmaster. "Then I think I'll turn in for an hour or so. You'll find a chart of Cherbourg in the wheel-house. Provided you make due allowance for the set of the tide, there is nothing of a difficult nature to contend against. You can just distinguish the central breakwater—the Digue. The eastern entrance is the one for us."
Mr. Armitage went below, while Stratton entered the wheel-house and "took over" from Flemming.
The next hour passed slowly. Although the young helmsman kept the Olivette well against the tide, her progress seemed painfully slow. It was not until the tide slackened and changed that the boat made any appreciable headway.
"Call Mr. Armitage," said Stratton as the Olivette rounded the Fort de l'Est—the easternmost point of the Digue—and the whole of the vast enclosed Cherbourg Harbour came into view.
The Scoutmaster was quickly on deck. "We're in, then?" he remarked. "Fine breakwater that. Have you any idea of what it cost?"
"No, sir," replied Peter.