BRINGING MR. TOWNSEND BACK AGAIN. 73 



a very light breeze blowing, and not a sign of a 

 storm anywhere. 



Old Bowline thought the crew were being hazed. 

 He reminded his shipmates that the old man had 

 had " such times " before. Didn't every man 

 remember pounding the anchor hour after hour ? 

 Could anybody forget the unnecessary holyston- 

 ing of the deck ? Had nobody any recollection of 

 wearing out his knees pushing a " prayer book " 

 — and swearing inside his jumpers while he did it ? 



I, for my part, had quite different suspicions. 

 I could not shake myself wholly free of the notion 

 that all this change aboard the Swift was in some 

 way connected with the old man's farewell admoni- 

 tion to the beach-comber : " Remember, now. two 

 white flags, and you get your reward ! " 



After ten days had gone by, an island rose 

 proudly out of the ocean. 



It was the same green, wooded paradise we had 

 last put out from — a beautiful, mountainous oasis, 

 if one may so speak, in the vast waste of blue 

 waters. 



We stood in for the beach-comber's bay, my 

 fancy big with expectancy. I knew now why 

 the old man had disguised the ship. 



It all fell out just as I had expected. We beat 

 our way up the harbor, and I watched the shore 



