“A plucky thing to do in a storm like that,” commented Mr. Lee, looking approvingly at Fred.
“Ross came to after a while, and we found that the only hurt he had was the water he had swallowed,” went on Lester. “We couldn’t do anything with the motor boat just then, so we made straight for Sentinel Cove. This morning, Montgomery was as good as ever.”
74Mr. Lee started slightly as he heard this name.
“Montgomery, did you say?” he asked. “I thought you called him Ross.”
“Yes, Ross Montgomery. Why?”
“Nothing,” was the reply. “Go ahead with your story.”
“There isn’t very much more to tell, as far as we’re concerned. We anchored at the cove for the night, and got away bright and early this morning. But Ross himself had a story to tell that has got us all worked up. You’d never guess what it was, Dad, in a thousand years.”
“I never was much good at guessing,” smiled Mr. Lee, “so let’s have it just as he told it.”
Lester started at the beginning and told the story as he had received it from Ross, with frequent suggestions from the other boys to remind him of some slight detail he had overlooked.
Mr. Lee listened intently, but he asked no questions, and for some minutes after Lester had finished he continued to smoke in silence, while the boys looked at him eagerly, anxious to know what he made of it.