"How did you ever get six miles off the coast on that float you're on?"
"Can't remember," replied Eph, dubiously.
"How long have you been out here on the water?"
"Ever since February, 1976," Eph Somers asserted, solemnly.
"Crazy!" muttered the officer to himself. "We'll have to get him aboard and turn him over to the officers at the next port. I'll try him on one more question."
Raising his voice, he called:
"What's your business? Do you follow the sea?"
"Say, you haven't caught me leading it anywhere, have you?" inquired Eph, wonderingly.
"If we throw you a rope, will you try to catch it?"
"Yep, or a beefsteak, either," Somers declared, promptly.