keep her forever near her.

The members in the "Delegation of Welcome," acted as if they had been
imbibing some intoxicating stimulant. Such happy laughter, and vehement
demonstrations of joy and love because Polly was with them again, spoke
louder than words that they had all thought she was drowned. Tom found
that little fuss was made over him in the first exuberant greetings, but
he came in for his share after the doctor had concluded his story about
the valiant young rescuer.

"Now, Mr. Brewster, you pay attention to me," remarked the physician,
when he was ready to depart on the launch: "You take your daughter home,
at once, and put her to bed for the rest of the day, to spare her any
nervous reaction. Then, if she is all right tomorrow, you may allow her
to receive a caller, or two--no more for the time being, or you will have
her break down."

Mr. Brewster promised to obey the orders faithfully, and soon afterwards,
Polly's friends followed her and her parents to the automobiles which
were waiting near the curb of the Park. Tom was surrounded, on both sides
and fore and aft, by his family and John and Mr. Dalken, all of whom
wished to hear the thrilling story of the rescue again.

"I'd rather hear how you folks kept afloat after that boat rammed the
yacht," said he, shunning a subject that still made him shudder.

Mr. Dalken insisted that Tom with his father and mother get into his
luxurious limousine and let him drive them home. On the way uptown, Mr.
Dalken told the story of their narrow escape from being lost in the Bay
after the collision.

"Immediately after the yacht was rammed and we could collect our senses
to comprehend what had happened, and what to do, the old tub of a
ferry-boat kept on her course. But there were some worried citizens on
board, for they shouted and, finally, the captain stopped his engines and
blew the whistles to see if we needed help.

"Fortunately for us, a river tug was quite close at hand when the
accident occurred, and its captain called through a megaphone to say that
he would assist us in any way we commanded.

"Our Captain then ascertained that part of our gear had been shaken out
of place, and it would be dangerous for him to try to run the vessel
under her own power, and trust our steering gear. So the good old man on
the tug took us in tow and landed us, towards dawn, at our dock.

"The moment we were on land, I rushed to the telephone at the Yacht Club
house, a