ect double rainbow and an equally perfect
reflection of it from the mirror-like surface of the Gulf. So
perfect a double-circled rainbow the captain had never before seen,
and, though he lived near the coast, Johnny had never seen one at
all. By the time they had finished their breakfast of roast clams
and ash-cake the rainbow had melted away and the storm-clouds were
nearer, but Dick wanted to start on up the coast. The captain shook
his head and Johnny recited:

"Rainbow in the mornin', sailors take warnin'."

Half an hour later all hands were glad to run to the fisherman's
house, from the doorway of which they looked out upon storm-driven
sheets of rain that shut out the Gulf and fell in hissing masses
upon the palmetto roof that covered them, while the continuous blaze
of lightning and crash of thunder gave Dick his first taste of a
tropical thunderstorm. Half an hour later the sky was cloudless, the
sun more brilliant than ever, and the only reminder of the storm
that had passed was the sullen roar of the surf as the big waves
broke on the beach.

When Johnny proposed to renew their voyage and the captain assented,
it was Dick who held back.

"What can we do out there?" said he, waving his hand toward the
white-capped waves that were sweeping in and sending their foam high
up the beach. Johnny only laughed in reply, but the captain and he
dragged the dingy, in which two poles had been placed, out into the
surf until the waves rolled waist deep past them.

"Tumble aboard, both of you," ordered the captain, as he stood by
the stern of the craft, holding its bow squarely against the
incoming waves. The boys climbed aboard, and Dick, following
Johnny's example, seized a pole and together they held the boat
against the sweep of the surf until the captain was aboard with the
oar in his hands. It was exciting work and as they pushed on and
out, with each new wave tossing the bow of the boat in the air and
spilling its crest of water and foam over the gunwales, Dick
exclaimed:

"Isn't it glorious? I never had such fun," and even the captain
smiled assent.

They pushed on until outside of the breakers and among the
smooth-rolling waves, where the deepening water made poling
difficult and they resumed their sculling. The captain took the
first trick, while Johnny bailed out, with his cap, the water that
the waves had spilled aboard.

Everything went smoothly and there was no more excitement on the
trip until in