The prisoners of so long a time in the cramped quarters of the flier were only too willing to get out of their prison. The commander and his assistant went back to the Service flier to get space suits for those who did not have them.
After the suits had been distributed, Commander Staples gave a piece of paper to Captain Eaton. “Here’s a message for you, Sir, that our radio picked up.” He winked at the boys. “Something tells me they’ll be as interested in it as you will be.”
The captain read the message and then turned to Garry and Patch with a warm expression. “Boys, it looks as though the adoption will go through as soon as we go back for a short time and make the arrangements.”
“Gee, I—I don’t know what to say,” Garry murmured, almost too excited and happy for words. “It sounds too good to be true!”
“They’re the best words you could have said to us, Sir,” Patch added. “Isn’t it just great, Garry!” His sparkling eyes showed how much he meant it.
“It’ll be a little strange being called, ‘Father,’” the captain said, smiling, “but I think I’ll get used to it pretty quickly.”
Captain Eaton stared off with a faraway look. “We’ll make up for lost time, boys. We’ll see as much of the universe as the old Carefree will carry us to. Yes, we’ll fix her up again if it takes the rest of my fortune. You’ll get your education among the stars, my sons, and you’ll be that much wiser because of it.”
Garry and Patch exchanged happy glances. Garry thought they were wiser already, just from knowing the grand skipper of the Carefree.
Transcriber’s Notes
- Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
- Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.
- In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)