"What did he do that for?" asked the perplexed Stratton.
The answer, silent but expressive, came from Alan himself, for as he gained the heaving deck he held up a dank, dishevelled object for the crew of the Rosalie to read, mark, and learn. It was Bruin.
The pup had been left lying asleep in the yacht's cabin. Unobserved, Bruin had made his way on deck and had coiled himself up under the dinghy that, swung inboard, was resting on chocks.
A heavy roll as the Rosalie took it green on the tail of the Looe Stream sent Bruin into the briny, unnoticed by anyone on board.
It was Warkworth at the helm of the Olivette who spotted the pup as it struck out in an unavailing attempt to overhaul the yacht.
Shouting to Roche to stop the engines, and hurriedly informing Hepburn of what had occurred, Warkworth steered as long as the boat carried way, while Alan, awaiting his opportunity, plunged overboard to the rescue.
As soon as the Rosalie and the Olivette entered relatively smooth water, Hepburn, without waiting to shed his saturated garments, stood on top of the wheel-house and held up a pair of hand-flags at the "preparatory".
"Acknowledge," said Mr. Armitage. "It's going to be something caustic, Peter."
It was. The semaphore message was as follows:—
"If Stratton can't look after Bruin better than that he'd better invest in a golliwog."