"I guess the steampipes always hum on this boat," remarked Laddie. "It
is not like it was at Aunt Jo's before that Sam boy came to make the
furnace go."

Whether the steampipes hummed or not, the children found that it was
quite balmy on the boat. Although a strong breeze almost always blew, it
was a warm one. They had long since entered into the Gulf Stream and the
warm current seemed to warm the air more and more as the _Kammerboy_
sailed southward.

It was only two hours after passing the schooner that was in distress
when they "spoke," as the quartermaster called it, the revenue cutter
which had been sent to help the disabled vessel, steaming swiftly toward
the point of the compass where the schooner was wallowing. Mr. Sparks,
as the wireless operator was called, had exchanged messages with the
Government vessel and he told the little Bunkers that the lumber
schooner would be towed into Hampton Roads, from which the cutter had
come.

All this time Russ Bunker stayed away from the covered boat on the
hurricane deck. Daddy Bunker, as well as Rose, began to wonder at the
boy's odd behavior. When dinner time came, Mr. Bunker watched his oldest
son sharply.

"Can I go out on deck again for a while?" asked Russ politely, as he
moved back his chair at the end of the meal.

"I don't see why you can't. And Rose too," said their mother. "It is not
yet dark. But you other children must come with me."