near being a pretty costly error for him,
for Percy. Well, those days were over. Percy had turned squarely about
and was doing better. Whittington, senior, determined to do better, too.

Little by little the gale blew itself out. By daybreak the sky was clear
and the wind had gone down, but the high rollers still wreaked their
wrath on the shattered yacht and thundered on the point. A fiery sun
shot its red rays over the slumberers in the crowded cabin. Filippo
roused yawningly, built the fire, and busied himself about breakfast.

Soon everybody was astir. The millionaire's clothes were now dry, and
he dressed with the others. Save for a slight stiffness and a few
bruises, he was all right.

After breakfast he went up on Brimstone with Percy and the others to
take a look at the _Barona_. The steel hull lay on its side on the
foaming reef, a battered, crumpled shape, sadly different from the trim
yacht that had left New York so short a time before. A miscellaneous lot
of wreckage was swashing in the surf at the base of the point, and Jim
and some of the crew were salvaging what they could; but it was not very
much.

Standing in safety on the promontory in the sunlight of the pleasant
morning, John P. Whittington gazed long at the wreck.

"Well," he remarked at last to the captain, who stood beside him, "I
guess I see where I'm out fifty or seventy-five thousand dollars. Might
as well take my medicine without a whimper. It was all my fault. You
wanted to run into Portland when the storm was making up, but I thought
we'd better try for some port nearer the island. I've gotten so into the
habit of having men do as I want them to that I thought the wind and sea
would do the same. But I've learned they won't. It's been an expensive
mistake, and it came altogether too near being more expensive still.
It's up to me to foot the bills. I'll make it all right with you and the
crew and Sadler."

The sea was going down rapidly. A council was held. The Rockland boat
would leave Matinicus at half past one, and, as Jim felt that the
_Barracouta_ could easily make the run to the island, it was decided to
send the crew back to New York that very day. The captain and the mate
arranged to remain on Tarpaulin until a wrecking-tug from Boston should
arrive.

Mr. Whittington, yielding to the persuasions of Percy and the invitation
of the other boys, consented to take the first vacation of his life and
stop with them a week or ten day