In the middle of a bright Friday afternoon she dropped
anchor alongside her companion craft, Phil doing wild and ecstatic
things with the whistle and eliciting no response from the _Follow Me_.
Steve and Phil donned proper shore-going togs and tumbled into the
dingey. The _Follow Me_ was totally deserted, which accounted for the
fact that, while their noisy arrival had aroused not a little interest
on other craft, the _Follow Me_ had received them very coldly. They
found some of the party at the hotel and the others rounded up later.
Everyone was flatteringly glad to see the new arrivals again, but none
more so than Perry. Perry was absolutely pathetic in his greetings and
refused to let Steve out of his sight for an instant.
"I'm quite taken by surprise," declared Steve. "I knew you loved me
devotedly, Perry, but this is--this is really touching!"
Perry grew a trifle red and coughed. "Er--well--I hope so," he blurted.
"You hope so? Hope what?"
"Hope it's touching," explained the other, grinning. "You see, I'm flat
broke, Steve, and so is everyone else, or pretty near, and if you could
lend me a couple of dollars--"
"I feared it wasn't all just affection," sighed Steve, reaching for his
purse.
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