“All right, thanks,” came the answer. “Cast off when you’re ready.”
Simultaneously the boys heard the splash of the Sinbad’s anchor. Toby threw off the line from the stern and, picking his way carefully, swung around and approached the anchored boat.
“Pass us a line,” called one of the men, “and come aboard, boys.”
A moment later, murmuring apologies for their dripping clothes and blinking at the light, they stepped down into the snug cabin.
“Throw your oilskins off and get warmed up,” instructed one of their hosts. “I’d offer you some dry things if I had them. We’ll have some hot coffee ready in a shake, and that’ll do you a lot of good, I guess.”
Toby viewed the magnificence of that cabin with awed interest, but Arnold was gazing at the younger of the two men before them. He was not more than twenty-one, it appeared, while his companion was probably three years older. Both were fine, gentlemanly looking chaps in spite of their old sweaters and khaki trousers and generally dilapidated appearance. The older one was already busying himself at the little stove up forward, but it was he who took up the tale again.
“We’re awfully grateful to you chaps,” he said earnestly. “And you did a mighty plucky stunt. Frankly, I didn’t believe we’d get here. We broke our propeller shaft about three o’clock and drifted all the way down from Franklinville to where you found us. We thought for a while we’d be able to collar around the break and limp home, but it was no go. I dare say you thought we were a bit fussy in insisting on getting up here, but the fact is we’ve got to light out the first thing in the morning and there’s a chap we know who’ll tinker us up tonight. You fellows won’t want to go back, I guess, until the traveling’s better. We can bunk you down here just as well as not.”
“I guess we’d better go home, thanks,” said Toby. “Our folks don’t know where we are, you see.”
“How about telephoning from the village?” asked the other man. “You live in Greenhaven, don’t you?”
“I do,” replied Toby. “Deering lives on Spanish Head. I guess we’d better go back. It won’t be bad with the wind astern.”