Quickly the news spread amongst the craft in the tier, and many and
various were the suggestions shouted to the bewildered couple from the
different decks. At last, just as the captain had ordered the waterman
to return to the shore, he was startled by a loud cry from the mate.

"Look there!" he shouted.

The captain looked. Fifty or sixty yards away, a small shamefaced-
looking schooner, so it appeared to his excited imagination, was slowly
approaching them. A minute later a shout went up from the other craft as
she took in sail and bore slowly down upon them. Then a small boat put
off to the buoy, and the Mary Ann was slowly warped into the place she
had left ten hours before.

But while all this was going on, she was boarded by her captain and
mate. They were met by Captain Bing, supported by his mate, who had
hastily pushed off from the Smiling Jane to the assistance of his chief.
In the two leading features before mentioned he was not unlike the mate
of the Mary Ann, and much stress was laid upon this fact by the
unfortunate Bing in his explanation. So much so, in fact, that both the
mates got restless; the skipper, who was a plain man, and given to
calling a spade a spade, using the word "pimply" with what seemed to
them unnecessary iteration.

It is possible that the interview might have lasted for hours had not
Bing suddenly changed his tactics and begun to throw out dark hints
about standing a dinner ashore, and settling it over a friendly glass.
The face of the Mary Ann's captain began to clear, and, as Bing
proceeded from generalities to details, a soft smile played over his