Steve, who had been forced to don a pair of leather shoes, didn’t seem to anticipate any great amount of amusement, however, and suggested that it would be a gentlemanly act if Perry would hie himself to a store and purchase a pair of number 8 “sneakers,” a suggestion which Perry weighed carefully and discarded.  “You see,” he explained, “it wouldn’t be fair to make me spend my hard-earned money for two ‘sneakers’ when I only lost one.  If the store would sell me half a pair, Steve, I’d make good in a minute, but you see my point of view, don’t you?”

Steve didn’t seem to.

While they were still at table Harry Corwin’s voice was heard and Ossie investigated by the simple expedient of climbing on top of the galley locker and thrusting his head through the open hatch.  “He wants to know if we’ll go to the movies with them,” said Ossie, ducking back into sight.

“Surest thing you know,” agreed Perry.

“We might as well, eh?” asked Joe.  “It’ll be beastly hot, though.”

“I’ll go if they’ve got Charlie Chaplin,” said Han.  “Ossie, ask him if they have, please.”

“He says he doesn’t know,” responded Ossie after an exchange of remarks.  “I told them we’d go, though,” he added, dropping to the floor.  “They’re going to wait for us on the landing in half an hour.”

“Half an hour!” grumbled Perry.  “You told them that so I couldn’t get enough to eat, you stingy beggar!  Got anything more out there?”

“Great Jumping Jehosaphat!” ejaculated Ossie wildly.  “I’ve cooked two messes of potatoes and toasted a hundred slices of bread—­”

“Oh, all right.  Bring on the dessert, then.”

“The dessert’s on now,” answered Ossie shortly.  “Cookies and jelly.  That’s all you get, Piggie.”

“Won’t we have to buy some more grub pretty soon?” asked Steve.

Ossie nodded and glanced darkly at Perry.  “If he stays around we will,” he answered.  “We’ve got enough for three or four days yet, though.  Better have some canned stuff, I guess.  And some flour and sugar.”

“How’s the treasury, Phil?” inquired Han.

“Still holding out.  Where’s the next stop, Steve?”

“We said Portsmouth, but Harry wants to put in at Salem.  I don’t suppose it matters much.”

“Then we cut out Boston altogether?”

“Why, yes, it’s out of the way a bit.  Besides, we didn’t start out on this cruise to visit cities.”

“We started out to look for adventures,” said Perry sadly, “but I don’t see many of them coming our way.”

“What do you call adventures?” asked Han.  “Didn’t you have a fine time being lost in the fog the other day?”

“Huh!” replied Perry, scraping the last of the jelly from the glass.  “Being lost in the fog isn’t an adventure.  It’s just plain punk.  What I mean is—­is pirates and—­and desert islands and—­and that sort of thing.”

“You were born a hundred years or so too late,” said Joe, shaking his head.  “Toss me a cookie, Han.  Thanks.  If you saw a pirate, Perry, you’d—­um—­you’d drop dead.”