esick and desert."

The skipper rose to his feet, or his crutches, and retorted:

"Can't clear port without my dockyments, an' you know it! Where they
at?"

"Safe in the locker meant for them, course. Young Barlow has all that
are necessary and a safe keeper of them, too. Better give up this
nonsense and let him go ahead. Easier for you, too, Cap'n, and
everything's all right. Good-bye, Miss Dorothy. I'll slip off again
without seeing Elsa, and you understand? If she gets too homesick for
me, or is ill, or--anything happens, telegraph me from wherever you
are and I'll come fetch her. Good-bye."

He was off the boat in an instant and very soon the Water Lily had
begun her trip. The engineer, Mr. Stinson, was a busy man and made
short work of Captain Hurry's fussiness. He managed the start
admirably, Jim and the other lads watching him closely, and each
feeling perfectly capable of doing as much--or as little--as he. For
it seemed so very simple; the turning of a crank here, another there,
and the thing was done.

However, they didn't reach Annapolis that night, as Mrs. Calvert had
hoped. Only a short distance down the coast they saw signs of a storm
and the lady grew anxious at once.

"O Dolly! It's going to blow, and this is no kind of a boat to face a
gale. Tell somebody, anybody, who is real captain of this Lily, to get
to shore and anchor her fast. She must be tied to something strong. I
never sailed on such a craft before nor taken the risk of caring for
so many lives. Make haste."

This was a new spirit for fearless Aunt Betty to show and, although
she herself saw no suggestions of a gale in the clouding sky,
Dorothy's one desire was to make that dear lady happy. So, to the
surprise of the engineers, she gave her message, that was practically
a command, and a convenient beach being near it was promptly obeyed.

"O, Mr. Captain, stop the ship--I want to get out and walk!" chanted
Gerald Blank, in irony; "Is anybody seasick? Has the wild raging of
the Patapsco scared the lady passengers? I brought a lemon in my
pocket----"

But Dorothy frowned at him and he stopped.

"It is Mrs. Calvert's wish," said the girl, with emphasis.

"But Pop would laugh at minding a few black clouds. He built the Water
Lily to stand all sorts of weather. Why, he had her out in one of the
worst hurricanes ever blew on the Chesapeake and she rode it out as
quiet as a lamb. Fact. I wasn't with him, course, but I heard him
tell.