d Han, dragging himself painfully
down the companion on his way to the galley. Phil Street smiled.

"Seems to me we're starting our adventure rather inauspiciously," he
said. "If we have a grouch before we leave the dock what's going to
happen later?"

"Maybe it's a good thing to have it now and get over it," laughed Steve.
"It was hot, though! And it isn't much cooler here. Let's get under way,
fellows, and find a breeze. It will take us the better part of four
hours to get to Bay Shore, anyway, and I telephoned Wink yesterday that
we'd be there by three. Every fellow into sea-togs as quick as he can
make it. Joe and Phil and I bunk aft, the rest of you in the main cabin.
Get your things put away neatly, fellows. Anyone caught being disorderly
will be keel-hauled. Have a look at this thermometer, Joe. It's almost
eighty-nine! Let's get out of here in a hurry!"

For the next ten minutes the fellows busied themselves as Steve had
directed. All, that is, save Perry. As Perry was already dressed for sea
he used his leisure to sit in the hatchway of the after cabin and
converse entertainingly with the occupants until, on the score that he
was keeping the air out, he was driven up to the cockpit. There he
perched himself in one of the four comfortable wicker chairs, placed his
feet on the leather-cushioned seat across the stern and languorously
observed a less fortunate person scrape the deck of a sloop on the far
side of the slip.

Suppose that, while the _Adventurer's_ crew prepares for service, we
have a look over the boat. The _Adventurer_, late the _Cockatoo_, was a
forty-foot V-bottom, military type cruiser, with a nine-foot beam and a
draught of two feet and six inches. Below the water-line she was painted
a dark green. Above it she was freshly, immaculately white as to hull,
while decks and smoke-stack were buff. The exterior bulkheads were of
panelled mahogany, and a narrow strip of mahogany edged the deck. There
was a refreshing lack of gold in sight, and, viewed from alongside, the
_Adventurer_ had a very business-like appearance. As she was of the
raised-deck cabin type, with full head-room everywhere, she stood well
above the water, and the low, sweeping lines that suggest speed were
lacking. But the _Adventurer_ had speed, nevertheless, for under the
bridge deck was a six-cylinder 6x6 Van Lyte engine that could send her
along at twenty miles an hour when necessary. On the stern was the
legend "ADVENTURER: N