EPH ENJOYS BEING RESCUED
In going that last eighth of a mile the gunboat's speed was gradually slowed.
It was a pretty piece of ship-handling. The "Massapequa" lost headway gradually a hundred feet from where Eph sat solemnly blinking back at the sailors' faces along the forward starboard rail.
An officer's uniform showed at the edge of the bridge, as he called:
"Ahoy, there!"
"Ahoy, yourself," answered Eph. "And another one for courtesy."
"Don't get funny, boy!" admonished the officer on the bridge. "What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing," Somers replied. "But; say! Can you spare a cushion."
"How did you come to be there, boy?"
"Floated," admitted Eph, truthfully.