Steve drew the _Adventurer's_ throttle down a couple of notches.

The _Follow Me_ gave up her notion of spending her declining years on the sands of Plum Island and slowly backed away.

A shout of delight arose from a dozen throats as, with the water once more under her she bobbed sedately to an 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.