"All the same, it be powerful strange," remarked Varco. "Submarines don't want tugs to give 'em a pluck into port, and Falmouth, too, of all places. Still, if I was you, Gregory Pinney, in a manner o' speakin' I'd take the 'Wayfarer' out. If 'tain't one thing 'tis often another, and chances are you'll pick up something to tow into t'harbour even if 'tain't this wunnerful submarine."
Accordingly Captain Gregory Pinney made necessary arrangements for the "Wayfarer" to proceed to sea early on the morning of the 12th.
Had Captain Pinney not informed his crony of the contents of Captain Restronguet's telegram the momentous news would never have spread abroad, for the skipper of the "Wayfarer" was, for a Cornishman, extremely reticent. Captain Hiram Varco was almost the reverse, and happening to fall in with an enterprising reporter of The Cornish Riviera Express, he waxed eloquent over a friendly glass of double cider.
Next day the London papers published the news, not without comments, for while it was tacitly accepted the message was perfectly genuine, no satisfactory reason could be assigned to Captain Restronguet's motive in requisitioning a tug.
Steps were taken to give the "Aphrodite" and her gallant crew a rousing welcome. Excursion steamers, laid up for the winter, were hurriedly chartered by speculative syndicates and sent round to Falmouth. Long before the fateful Twelfth all the accommodation was booked at a guinea a head. Fishing-boats, risking the Board of Trade regulations, became temporary pleasure craft; luggers, quay-punts, and even frail rowing boats were hired, so that should weather permit, a general exodus of the various craft for Falmouth Harbour would take place--an event to be talked about in years to come by the old salts of the West country. Great Britain in general and Cornwall in particular, meant to show the proper way to welcome home a national, nay, world-wide hero.
* * * * *
Dawn was just breaking when the "Aphrodite" sighted the powerful white flash-light of the Lizard. The submarine had made short work of the run across the bay and had arrived off the English coast some hours earlier than Captain Restronguet had anticipated.
"I thought better of Captain Pinney," remarked Captain Restronguet to Hythe as the two stood on the deck gazing towards their native land. "Kenwyn tells me that a wireless message came through during the night. The news has leaked out and there's to be a whole crowd of shipping to see us arrive. I think I can promise that they won't be disappointed of a spectacle."
Captain Restronguet and his guest were early on deck. The sea was smooth, the air mild for the time of year, nevertheless they were glad of their great-coats after sweltering under the African sun.
"Will nothing alter your decision, sir?" asked the sub almost pleadingly.