"Couldn't we all sign on for a voyage in a coaster these holidays, sir?" inquired Alan Hepburn. "We'd improve our seamanship, and get a fairly tidy sum towards our new boat. Much better than knocking about here."
"Quite a sound suggestion of yours, Alan," said the Scoutmaster. "But it's open to a grave objection. For one thing, seven or eight youngsters are rather a tall order for one coasting vessel."
"Pity we couldn't get an M.-L." suggested Peter. "Like the one you had command of, sir."
Mr. Armitage did not reply. He had strong views on that subject. It was a matter of intense regret to him that the sturdy little fleet of miniature warships had not been put to better use by the Admiralty instead of being sold abroad. In a few isolated instances craft of this type were given by the Admiralty to cadet organizations, but such instances were few and far between. Already the lessons learnt by the Great War were being forgotten. One was the need of expert coastal navigators—men who could confidently take a small craft where others with deep-sea experience would fail hopelessly. From his own knowledge Mr. Armitage knew this. He had seen officers, trained in the Royal Navy and the big shipping companies, literally at sea when called upon to navigate a light-draughted craft amongst the shallows of the Thames Estuary, or the sand-banks off the Belgian coast; while yachtsmen and masters of small coasting vessels, who, during the Great War, had worn His Majesty's uniform as members of the once derided "Harry Tate's Navy" could and did perform deeds of daring in shallow waters under conditions that would have completely "floored" their deep-sea colleagues.
Armitage had hoped to be able to purchase the M.-L. he once commanded, and use her profitably and pleasurably for the instruction of his troop of Sea Scouts. He made a fair offer for her, but his advances were cold-shouldered by an unsympathetic and incompetent Small Craft Disposal Board. He had the mortification of seeing his former command rot at her moorings in an out-of-the-way creek, until 'longshore sharks "pinched" most of her fittings, and finally she was sold abroad.
"Are you sure the coaster stunt couldn't be worked, sir?" asked Alan Hepburn, returning to the charge.
"'Fraid not," replied Mr. Armitage. "What we might do is to offer to take a craft from one port to another. You see there are plenty of yachts changing hands. Their new owners might want them taken to other ports, and at the present time crews are both expensive and difficult to obtain. We could offer to navigate a small craft anywhere, say, between the Humber and Falmouth. It would give us the benefit of a fairly long coastal voyage, and as a troop our funds would benefit. We might even raise enough to buy a ten-ton cutter or yawl."
"How do we go about it?" asked Peter Stratton.
"Advertise," replied the Scoutmaster briefly. Then, after a pause, he added: "Of course, your parents' consent would have to be obtained for a job of this description. But with ordinary caution there should be little risk. A careful study of the barometer, and the knowledge that all around the coast there are harbours within a few miles of each other, ought practically to eliminate all danger. I've no use for a man who puts to sea before a rising gale, but I've the keenest admiration for the one who, 'caught out' in the open, knows how to bring his craft safely back to port. Courage and foolhardiness are as remote as the poles."
"What sort of craft do you think we might have to take, sir?" asked Woodleigh.