After both boys had thanked Lieutenant Ames profusely, Jerry asked, “How did you ever get so much done in just three days?”
“Oh, that’s the Coast Guard way with boats,” Ames said and he laughed. “A whole gang of the boys decided to go to work on her, and we did in three days what would take most boat yards a week or two. It started when we decided to fix up the bullet scars, and it just didn’t stop until we had finished the whole thing!”
Climbing to the deck, they inspected the newly painted cabin and cockpit, the freshly varnished coamings and mast, the almost invisible repairs on the decks.
“We’ll have her launched within the next hour,” Lieutenant Ames said. “Why don’t you go into town to buy whatever you need in the meanwhile? It shouldn’t take you too long to get stores for a short trip.”
“That’s a good idea,” Sandy said. “But we’re going to need more than the regular stores. I’m going to spend some of that reward money right away on a new spinnaker. That’s one thing I’ve decided never to be without again!”
“Not only that,” Jerry added, “but we want to get some more shells for the flare pistol. I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable without that on board!”
“There’s something else, too,” Sandy said. “I think we ought to think up a name for this boat right away, and pick up some brass letters for the stern. I don’t want to keep on making mistakes!”
Ames joined in the laughter, then said, “That’s one thing I think you don’t have to do. That is, unless you don’t like the name the Coast Guard picked out for you!”
Rushing to the stern, Sandy and Jerry leaned over to see the shiny brass letters screwed to the counter of their sloop. Looked at upside down, they spelled:
REWARD