Once more the captain left them, but this time for good.
“Well, that’s that,” Patch commented unhappily. “No adoption. When he came back I thought he....”
“I was hoping too,” Garry replied, “but we’ve got to go back, and that’s all there is to it.”
Mac and Isaac came over, still breathing hard from their exercises.
“We couldn’t help but overhear the bad news,” Mac said. “We’re going to hate to see you fellows go.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Isaac added.
“Thanks,” Garry replied. “We were getting to like this old ship.”
“In a way I’d almost like to go with you,” Mac said, with a faraway look in his eyes.
Garry guessed that the Scotsman was a little homesick. His hunch proved correct, because Mac began to reminisce about his homeland. He described the heather on the hillsides, the flowing streams, and the green vales. And yet, Mac admitted finally that space was still a good second home to him, and he enjoyed his life in the deeps.
Isaac had no home he would rather live in than the Carefree. As he talked about his good friends aboard ship and the kindly captain, Garry noticed the softness of the big man’s eyes.