remarked: “Well, we have much to be grateful for, Dalky. Especially for the Captain’s unusual consideration for young maids’ preference for the company of young men. He shows he was young himself at one time!” Then she laughed merrily.
“Yes; that is what he said just now, when I demanded an excuse for his unwarranted action of adding all those extra appetites to my list of passengers. We’ll run short of rations long before we touch at Cuba,” said Mr. Dalken.
The anxious young men now saw their host approaching, and Tom hurried forward to meet him and ask for an explanation. Having been told how amazed Mr. Dalken felt at the manner in which the Captain had acted, the disgusted young man glanced inadvertently across the Harbor.
Polly, watching Mr. Dalken’s face for a cue to this hoax, saw him strive to bite his nether lip in order to keep from laughing outright. This instantly relieved her mind of any doubts, for she knew Mr. Dalken would not feel like laughing if the carrying off of the group of young men had been accidental. As it now seemed, the whole plan had been a trick.
The yacht skimmed on without as much as a swerve inland to denote that the Captain was softening his heart and was disposed to land his stolen passengers at any dock along the way. The men thus stolen began to frown heavily and every last one of them forgot to make the most of this opportunity to converse with the young ladies they had found so charming a short time before.
Finally the craft neared Sandy Hook. As the distance between the Station and the yacht seemed to diminish, a stranger in uniform came down from the pilot house and approached Mr. Dalken. He held out a hand and spoke in a low murmur. Mr. Dalken laughed and nodded his head.
The yacht swept up alongside a small power boat which had apparently kept the same course as the White Crest, and the uniformed stranger turned to the wondering group of young persons. “I’m going ashore in my launch, but there may be room for a few extra passengers in case any one here fears sea-sickness and prefers to return to land.”
At this unexpected invitation, a rush of eager young men fell upon the pilot and in one voice begged to be taken ashore. The laughter from Mr. Dalken and his adult guests soon explained the joke. But the host would not let the departing guests go in peace.
“I’m shocked, boys, to find you are afraid of sea-sickness and choose to go ashore rather than take a chance with us! Well, now that my girls see for themselves what your courage amounts to, they may decide to marry other young men they are sure to find in South America.”
The farewells spoken at this parting were short, and needed no more than half a minute to finish. The pilot smiled grimly as he said: “Quite different from those long-drawn-out goodbys you boys kept on saying while at the dock!”
Down in the launch, the young men who now liked to call themselves “The Castaways,” waved their hats and sang a farewell song while the little chugging craft started away for land.
Eleanor sighed as she turned away from the rail. “That was the first adventure on our outward bound itinerary. What next, I wonder?”
“Well, I can tell you something we forgot to do, because of all this excitement over those boys!” exclaimed Polly, impatiently. Then she continued in a no less angry tone: “We had planned just how we would stand at the stern of the yacht and wave our hands and sing a farewell to our dear people waiting at the end of the pier to see the very last speck of us, and then we sail away and not as much as a thought do we fling at them! I feel quite guilty when I think of all my friends watching anxiously for one last look from me!”
Polly’s voice had an audible regret in its tone as she ended her sentence, but Mrs. Courtney quickly changed the regret to merriment. “Oh, my dear! They never remembered you were on board. Every one in that crowd on the dock was so flustered over the fears of those boys being taken on this trip and then hearing from you girls that they all were married off as seemed best, that they were calling, running about for help, signaling, and what not, to cause the yacht to turn back and deposit those heart-breakers safely beside the parental authority once more.”
CHAPTER III – THE FIRST NIGHT OUT
While sampling the tiers of candies – each box vying with another in artistic decorations – and then sniffing at the pyramids of flowers sent by loving friends to the voyagers, the girls gossiped of the recent events, the first experiences of their trip South.
From this form of light conversation, the talk drifted to the discussion of the weather and the waves. The sea was not as smooth and glassy as it might have been, and the vessel these bragging maids were now on was not as firm and quiet under foot as the Oceanic or the Aquitania. In fact, every huge roller seemed to heave the dainty White Crest up at one end and let it drop at the other. This rather unpleasant tumbling created a slight sense of discomfort in the bosoms of the passengers.
Several boxes of the richest bon bons had been emptied by the group of girls before Mrs. Courtney came in to join them. The moment she saw the boxes, and the girls lounging about nibbling at the sweets, she declared anxiously: “Oh, my dears! Better not eat candy to-night, you know. If we come into smoother water before to-morrow you will have ample time to finish these boxes of candy.”
Elizabeth laughed, with the suggestion of a sneer in her tone. “Any one would think, dear Mrs. Courtney, that we were not good sailors. You might find it necessary to deprive yourself of certain good things to eat, but I have crossed several times and I am never troubled with mal de mer.”
“Polly and I never felt a qualm when we went over last year; but that was on a great gigantic steamer that felt different from this rocking.” As Eleanor spoke she dropped a tempting chocolate cream back into the box.
“I was about to remark, just as Mrs. Courtney came in, that it might be wiser for us to defer sampling the rest of the candy until to-morrow. This unusual rocking between the tops and the bottoms of the waves is a bit uncanny – don’t you agree with me?” Polly looked concerned at the sensation she felt.
Elizabeth laughed unkindly. “You are in for a lovely time, my dear child!”
“Well, I’ve crossed three times myself,” now said Nancy Fabian, “but I will admit that this upheaval of the waves is causing me to worry some over my emotions.” Her friends laughed.
“This sea-sick business is only a matter of self-control, I think!” declared Elizabeth, with a superior smile. “Naturally, if one dreads it, one will feel more uncertain of keeping up. Now I never permit myself to dwell upon the disgusting thought of such a condition, and I am as regular at the table each meal as the old sea-seasoned Captains. I have been complimented by the Captains on having good sea-going nerves.”
Mrs. Courtney listened but offered no contribution to the conversation. Polly was about to make a remark when a tap at the door drew the attention of the occupants of the room.
“Come in,” said Eleanor, who sat nearest the door. It was a uniformed boy who came to announce afternoon tea on deck. “Mr. Dalken says to tell you’se all that every one is there waitin’ fer ye’se.”
“All right, thank you. We’ll be there in a moment,” said Eleanor, then she closed the door again. “Any one here want tea? We have had so much candy that I don’t see how we can eat cake or buns.”
“We will go up and join the others, however,” added Mrs. Courtney, rising to lead the way from the state room.
“But, my dears!” exclaimed Elizabeth in shocked tones. “Surely you would not sit down to afternoon tea in these street suits?”
“Of course, Elizabeth. Your father made it very plain that this was to be a rest and pleasure voyage, and not one for dress or social customs. We were asked to live exactly as if we were at home in our own little apartments with no one but family members near,” explained Mrs. Courtney, kindly.
“Well, that may do all right for you, Mrs. Courtney, but I, for one, shall never lower my dignity and social prestige to such a degree that I would have to feel like apologizing to myself for my appearances.” With this rude explanation Elizabeth flounced from the room and went directly to her own stateroom.
Her