even keel and
followed the tug of the big hawser.

A quarter of an hour later the two boats continued their way up the
shore, the _Follow Me_ poorer by one eighty-pound anchor and richer by
one cedar dingey which the six boys aboard seriously suspected of having
been stolen. They ate dinner at half-past two, anchored on Joppa Flats,
the two crews once more assembled around and about the _Adventurer's_
hospitable board, and as they ate, very hungrily and quite happily, they
discussed the day's adventure.

The _Follow Me_ showed numerous signs of Steve's and Wink's
marksmanship, both outside and in, but there was no damage that nails
and hammer, paint and putty wouldn't repair. The stolen boat's larder
was sadly depleted and, as Tom said disgustedly, the cabin looked as
though a dozen pigs had lived in it a week! But, all in all, the cruiser
had come off well. As for the lost anchor, why, as Wink pointed out, the
tender would more than buy them a new one. There was some discussion as
to their right to dispose of that tender and in the end they agreed that
the proper thing to do would be to leave it at Newburyport and mail an
advertisement to the Plymouth papers. If the owner claimed the boat he
would pay for the advertisement. If he didn't, they would recover it
later on their way back down the coast. The _Adventurer_, too, showed
numerous scars. One bullet had plugged straight in at one side of the
smokestack and out the other, the glass in one window had been shattered
to bits and in various other places damage had been wrought. But they
had recovered the _Follow Me_, and that, viewing the affair in
retrospect, had been something of an achievement. Everyone, even Tom by
now, was more than satisfied at the outcome of their first real
adventure. Dinner, delayed as it was and none too palatable by reason of
having been prepared for a much earlier hour, was a merry meal.

After it was over they went on up to Newburyport, found a berth and set
out to look for a yard where they could have the two cruisers patched.
Repairs kept them there two days, and then, having acquired a new anchor
for the _Follow Me_ and left the extra dingey in safe storage, the
Adventure Club set forth once more in the early hours of a drizzly
morning.

They passed the Isles of Shoals before nine and in the middle of the
forenoon Steve pointed through the haze to where an indistinct blot
against the sky line proclaimed Boon Island. After that the c