the harbour he had supposed that not more than half a dozen craft were within sight, but now, between mouth and causeway, fully two dozen sailboats and launches dotted the surface.  Over his shoulder was a little hamlet that was doubtless Vineyard Haven.  Facing him was a larger community, and he decided that that would be Oak Bluffs.  Half a mile down the harbour lay the Adventurer and, nearer at hand, the Follow Me.  But what was of more present interest to Perry was a group of figures on the opposite beach.  They appeared to be seated and there was that in their attitude which, even at this distance, told of dejection.  So, reflected Perry, might have looked a group of marooned sailors.  He sighed and bent again to his inadequate oars.  He was under no misapprehension as to the sort of welcome awaiting him, but, like an early Christian martyr on the way to the arena, he proceeded with high courage if scant enthusiasm.

With the sun pouring down upon him, with his hands blistered, with his breath just about exhausted and his arms aching, he at last drew to the shore amidst a dense and unflattering silence.  Five irate youths stepped into the tender and crowded the seats.  Harry Corwin took his place beside Perry and relieved him of the port oar.  Perry would have yielded the other very gladly, but none offered to accept it and he hadn’t the courage to make the suggestion.  The dingey floated off the sand again, headed for the Follow Me, and then the storm broke.  It didn’t descend all at once, however.  At first there were muffled growls of thunder from Harry Corwin.  Then came claps from Wink Wheeler.  After that the elements raged about Perry’s defenceless head, even “Brownie” supplying some fine lightning effects!

Perry gathered in the course of the uncomplimentary remarks directed toward him that the crowd, being unable to find the dingey where they believed they had left it, had spent some twenty minutes searching up and down the beach, that subsequently they had waited there in the fog for a good forty minutes more and that eventually Perry Bush would sooner or later come to some perfectly deplorable end and that for their part they didn’t care how soon it might be.  By the time the Follow Me was reached Perry was too worn out to offer any excuse.  Cas, however, did it for him, and, as the others’ tempers had somewhat sobered by then amusement succeeded anger.  Perry faintly and vaguely described his wanderings about the harbour and the amusement increased.  As dinner was announced about that time he was dragged to the cabin and propped in a corner of a bunk and fed out of hand.  An hour later he was transported, somewhat recovered, to the Adventurer by Harry and Tom Corwin and Wink Wheeler and delivered, together with his precious can of milk, into the hands of his ship-mates.

The Adventurer’s tender bobbed about at the stern and the first person Perry set eyes on as he scrambled onto the bridge deck was Han.  Perry fixed him with a scathing gaze.  “Where,” he demanded, “did you get to, idiot?”