"Ahoy there, what do you want?" called Tom.
"Is that the Fortuna?" queried a heavy voice.
"Yes, sir," answered Tom. "What do you want?"
"I'll come aboard, if you please!" replied the stranger.
"Better wait a minute until we can size you up," cried Jack, stepping
into the pilot house and switching on the searchlight, which he trained
upon the man standing on the wharf. "We're not unprepared for callers
and we want to make sure, you know. What do you want?"
"I guess when you see this," laughed the man, exhibiting a star under
his coat, "you won't object to my coming aboard. I am sorry to say," he
continued in a tone of mock seriousness, "I am a United States Marshal.
May I come aboard now?"
"Yes, sir, you may," declared Tom. "But you must excuse us for our
precaution. We've been through some trying experiences and it's no
wonder we feel we must protect ourselves."
"Got away from Pascagoula in a hurry, didn't you?" smiled the stranger
introducing himself as Roger Harrison.
"Yes, we did," stated Jack, introducing the other boys. "We got word
from Doright, here, that our friends and our friends' friend had been
shanghaied aboard a schooner and so we went after them and got them,
too," he proudly stated.
"Well, boys, it seems to me it would have been real easy to stop and pay
your shipyard charges when you were coming back."
The boys all gasped. In the excitement of rescuing their chums the
matter of settling their bill at the shipyard had been crowded out of
their minds.
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