The others found places in the shade
as best they could and talked and watched for the _Follow Me_ and
listened to occasional snatches of news from Steve. There was
practically no breeze and the afternoon was uncomfortably hot even under
the awning. Joe finally solved the difficulty of keeping cool by
disappearing below and presently re-emerging in his swimming trunks and
dropping overboard. That set the fashion, and they all went in save
Steve, who was too absorbed in his papers to know whether he was warm or
not. The _Follow Me_ came up the harbour just before five and tooted a
greeting as she swung around to a berth near the _Adventurer_. The
fellows, who were still in bathing attire, swam across to her, and very
shortly their ranks were increased by just half a dozen more. The sight
of Steve's feet hanging over the canvas was too much for Perry and he
yielded to temptation. Swimming up very quietly he deftly pulled off one
of Steve's "sneakers" and, in defiance of the owner's protests, they
played ball with it until the inevitable happened and it sank out of
sight before Wink Wheeler could dive for it. "Brownie" said then that
Steve might as well let them have the other one, since one shoe was no
use to him, but Steve's reply was not only non-compliant but actually
insulting in its terms.
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