"
"How about it, Rowdy?" inquired Arnold caressing the bulldog. "You'll
stick up for me, won't you, old pal?"
Rowdy's stumpy tail wagged ecstatically as Arnold lavished affection
upon him. He endeavored to "kiss" all hands, but this was discouraged.
The boys dearly loved their pet but objected to "kisses."
"Anyhow," decided Arnold, "Rowdy never would have let the chap get away
if he had thought he was here for harm. So that means the boy is all
right! He may have come here a bad boy, but he went away a good one or
Rowdy never would have let him go. So there!"
"There might be something in that, too," admitted Jack.
"All hands on deck for a bath," sang out Tom. "I feel dirty!"
"Let's run out of the harbor and get some clean water," Harry proposed.
"This river looks pretty thick to me."
All the boys thought the idea a good one and accordingly the anchor was
lifted and the Fortuna put out to sea a short distance.
The morning was a glorious one. Old Sol cast his rays upon the sea which
gave them back broken and shattered into a thousand shafts of shimmering
light. The air was cool and clear. Here and there in the distance a
white sail like a fleeting gull marked the position of a sailing vessel,
while a smudge of smoke from a steamer far away to the west lent a touch
of color.
No time was lost by the boys in starting the pump. Soon a stream of
water from the hose was playing on the deck. All hands seized brushes
and scrubbed the decks industriously until they shone in spotlessness.
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