"Say," remarked a petty officer, "you left the line fast to that raft."
"Certainly," nodded Eph, with cool assurance. "That's so you can haul the door on board, too. Mother'd make a fuss if I got home without the door to her ice chest."
"Shall we haul the door aboard, sir?" called the petty officer to the bridge.
"Yes," nodded the young officer up there.
So that came aboard, too, almost in a jiffy.
Eph, with a very wide grin on his face, stood regarding the sailors who had curiously gathered around him.
"Where are you from?" asked one of the seamen.
"Just in from the salt water," Eph assured him.
"Let the boy alone, men," warned the officer on the bridge. "I'll have the guard take care of him for the night. In the morning I'll report the case to the captain. But bring the boy up here for a moment."
Two sailors thereupon escorted Eph to the bridge. The officer in charge looked him over curiously.