The offer was gladly accepted. The Olivette's bow-warp was passed on board the tramp and the boat hauled alongside the Acacis' starboard side. Sheltered by the latter vessel's towering hull, the Olivette was no longer a target for the ragamuffins of the port.
As the skipper had predicted, it blew hard at sunset, the gale continuing all the following day, accompanied by heavy showers. But the Olivette was in snug shelter, the basin being completely landlocked, while the rain did not prevent the Sea Scouts enjoying the hospitality of their French friends.
At length the storm moderated, and on the fourth day the sea had subsided sufficiently to enable the Olivette to resume her voyage. The Acacis, having discharged a portion of her cargo, was also due to leave Cherbourg for Le Havre. Directly the gates of the Bassin-à-Flot were opened, the Olivette motored through into the Avant-Port. Here she tied up, for it was inadvisable to make a start for the east'ard before half-ebb. By so doing the Olivette would "carry her tide" for eight or nine hours, and as the tides run strongly off the French coast, the question of "working them" was an important one.
Mr. Armitage had to obtain clearance papers and lay in sundry stores, so that the time was not wasted, and when the Olivette headed seaward, the Acacis was steaming through the East Channel.
"We've about one knot advantage in speed," remarked the Scoutmaster, "but we'll slow down a bit and let her pilot us. It's rather a dangerous bit of coast between here and Cape Levi. Look at that broken water. Anyone would think that there was a gale raging off that point, but it's merely a tidal race."
Dead in the wake of the tramp, and about a cable's length astern, the Olivette kept. At intervals members of the Acacis' crew semaphored jocular messages to the Sea Scouts, to which the latter replied with the greatest zest.
About five miles beyond Cape Barfleur the Olivette overtook a French fishing smack. One of the crew of the latter, noticing that the Sea Scouts were semaphoring, attempted to send them a message.
"Dashed if I can make out what that fellow is saying," exclaimed Hepburn with a puzzled look. "Can you, Reggie?"
Warkworth shook his head. He was reckoned to be a good signaller, but the Frenchman's semaphoring was beyond him.
"I'm not surprised," said Peter. "The French system is different from ours. Don't you remember when we were at Dover——"