“Good stuff! Now listen, you fellows. You know where I live, Deering. Come and see me when you get there. I’ll be back pretty nearly as soon as you are. Bring Tucker with you. Don’t forget, eh?”
“No, thanks, I’ll be glad to,” said Arnold. “Is—is Mr. Loring the one who used to play quarterback on the team?”
“I am,” laughed Mr. Loring. “Don’t tell me that my fame still survives, Deering!”
“Yes, sir. Besides, I’ve seen your picture in the gym lots of times.”
“And you’ve been gone—how long is it, Alf? Six years, eh? That’s fame as is fame!”
“Shut up,” replied the other, laughing, “and drink this. Find another cup, Gerald, will you? Sorry we can’t offer you anything better than canned cow, fellows. Dig into those biscuits, will you? If you’re half as hungry as I am, you’re starved! I wish to goodness we had some dry clothes for you. Look here, why not get those things off and wrap a couple of blankets around you? There are towels in there and you can rub yourselves dry, you know. Great scheme! Why didn’t you think of that, Gerald? What good are you, anyway, in a crisis?”
“I don’t mind wet clothes,” answered Toby. “And it wouldn’t be much good to get dry and then put our clothes on again.”
“All right, but pull this blanket around you until you get ready to start back. It’ll keep you warm meanwhile. Have some more sugar, Deering?”
In spite of their wet garments that was a very jolly half-hour that the two boys spent in the cabin of the Sinbad. They each had two cups of really excellent coffee and as many biscuits as they could eat. And they had a fine time talking about Yardley Hall, and listening to the reminiscences of their hosts. They learned that the Sinbad belonged to Mr. Loring and that the two had spent a month cruising along the coast from Maine to Long Island without a mishap until that afternoon. It was nearly nine when they donned their oilskins again and climbed back into the Urnove. The Sinbad’s crew once more expressed their gratitude, shook hands and wished them a safe voyage, Mr. Pennimore reminding them that they were to come and see him when they got to Yardley. Then the Urnove chugged off again in the darkness, picking her way between anchored craft, and the lights on the cruiser dwindled away astern.