The boys looked at one another in silence.

“It simply never occurred to us that we were back within communicating distance,” replied Alec at last.  “We haven’t seen or heard a telephone since we left home.”

“And really, Mr. Sands,” said Roy Norton quickly, “when you hear what strange, unusual experiences the boys have had, you will not wonder at their forgetting the convenience of a little, every-day matter like the telephone.  For myself, I offer no excuse.  I should have been more thoughtful.  But I, too, have dropped the customs and responsibilities of home life about as thoroughly as have the boys, I am afraid.”

“That is all right, Norton,” said Mr. Sands.  “I spoke hastily, for my nerves were a little frazzled.

“Now, boys, make yourselves comfortable and clean, and then come out on the veranda and tell me the tale of the exciting trip.”

It was an eager quartette of boys who responded to this invitation; and when they finally started to relate their experiences, Mr. Sands found it necessary to hear them in turn in order to get any clear idea of connecting events.

At length, however, he had followed them on their trip south, in imagination; had seen the panting tarpon on the deck of the Arrow; had taken the winding waterways into the Everglades; had encountered the revenue cutter and the filibuster; had watched through a night of adventure with the scouts on picket duty; and had finally swung safely through the dashing waves to the Life Saving Station.

“Well, boys, I little thought when I put you aboard Captain Lem’s sloop for a little cruise south that you would see so much variety and excitement.  But if you are not sorry, I am not.  You are all home again, safe and sound, and none the worse for your experiences.  Take it easy, now, for the rest of your stay here and have the best time you can.”

This advice the boys were not at all reluctant to follow.  For a day or two they lounged about the broad piazzas in hammocks and easy chairs, reading books from Mr. Sands’ well stocked library or from Alec’s own bookshelf.

On the second evening of this quiet home life, however, Billy’s uneasy spirit led him to say: 

“Fellow scouts, I move you, sirs, that we take to the road.  My hiking muscles are aching for use.  We have sailed and paddled and motored.  Now I propose, sirs, that we tramp.”

“Second the motion!” echoed Chester.

“What do you think of the idea, Alec?” asked Hugh, turning to their young host.  “Will your father think we are ungrateful guests if we go off for a day or two so soon after the cruise?”

“We’ll plan a trip,” replied Alec readily, “and submit the scheme to him to-night.  If he has no objections, we will telephone Mark and ask him to join us, and perhaps Norton can go along, too.”

Alec’s suggestion was carried out, and Mr. Sands not only approved the plan but added interest to it by producing some excellent road maps and proposing a tour of adventure.