their feelings next morning when they put off and, lo! there was no
_Swallow_ in the Merchant Shipping Anchorage. In Cawsand Bay, you
understand, we were well hidden by the land, and it cost them at
least a couple of hours to guess our whereabouts.

"Long as the time was, it wasn't enough to wear out the effects of
the--well, the Cinematograph. A yellower set, or a bluer in the
gills, you never set eyes on. They came aboard, and the skipper,
having made some inquiries of me, called up Link, cleared his throat
quite in the old approved style, and began to make a speech.

"Link cut it short.

"'All right, my precious swine! Now step below and wash off the
traces. If you behave pretty, maybe I'll not report you.'"



VIII.

"That finished the lot," wound up the Schoolmaster. "There _was_ no
answer to it, if you come to think."

"And Link never told?"

"Never a word, sir. Nor did I. But the story leaked out somehow,
and it gave the Commander the whip-hand of his Committee, to ship a
new set of officers. Ship and tender, sir, the _Egeria_ nowadays is
something to be proud of. But for my part I don't go on any more of
these summer cruises. The open sea never suited my stomach, and I