Polly's Southern Cruise

They hurried up to his side, and Ray was about to ask him why he seemed so disturbed, when Jack turned and caught sight of them.

“Well! you’re a nice lot of friends for a fellow to have,” complained he, impatiently.

“It’s your own fault, we invited you to come shopping with us,” declared Eleanor.

“Shopping, yes! but you never said a word about a good time with Ray,” grumbled Jack. “I bet you planned the whole thing yesterday.”

“People who deceive others are always suspicious of everything but themselves,” quoth Nancy.

“Leaving all of that in the past, let’s make the most of the present,” advised Ray. “By the way, Jack, what’s your list of restaurants for?”

The officer, seeing that the young stranger had found the friends he had been seeking, now walked away. Jack held up the paper which he had been checking and showed the girls the name and address of every eating-place in Panama, but not the old coffee-house where they had been lunching.

“See that list?” demanded Jack. “Well, I raced around to every blame one of them the moment I heard you girls had met Ray.”

“How under the sun did you know we were with Ray?” asked Polly, greatly astonished.

“I’ll tell you: you girls and Ray had not turned the corner of the street before I came dashing around the other corner to get to the store where you said you were all going to shop. Just inside the door I saw Mrs. Courtney, and I was thanking my lucky stars that I had not missed you – and this is the result.”

“Why did you want us?” asked Eleanor.

“Because, Captain Blake came on deck and told Dalky something went wrong down in the engine-room and it might be several hours before we could start. At that, I made up my mind to have one more lark on shore, and I hurried away to find you all.”

“Now that you have found us, let us have the lark,” laughed Ray.

“But now it is time to go back to the yacht!” growled Jack. “I have been wasting the two hours hunting for you – I haven’t had a thing to eat. Let’s go somewhere and keep ourselves from fainting.”

“We’re far from fainting,” laughed Eleanor; “we have been feasting.”

“You don’t mean it!” was Jack’s annoyed reply.

“And what’s more,” added Polly, “we are supposed to be on board the yacht by three.”

“Yeh, I know! Dalky called after me as I left, saying: ‘be sure and show up by three, Jack!’ and I suppose I will have to go back with an empty inside.” Jack’s tone was so plaintive that the girls laughed at him.

Time was passing, however, and Ray had to meet his employer in a short time, hence he could not accompany his friends back to the yacht. Jack, being over-eager to get something to eat before going back, it was finally decided to step into the first restaurant found and order luncheon for the famished young man. While seated at the table with him, the girls and Ray could say their final goodbys and be ready to depart with Jack when he had finished eating.

Upon their return to the yacht the girls discovered that they had missed a bit of excitement by their absence. The Captain had discovered smoke issuing from a small store-room back of the engine room and upon investigation it was found that crossed electric wires had started a small fire between the partitions. But this was soon extinguished and quiet reigned once more.

However, this necessary electric work delayed the departure of the White Crest until late in the afternoon, thus it was sun-down when they finally got started on their voyage. And here we must leave them to follow their own inclinations (and the ways of the yacht) down the west coast. But we shall be able to accompany them on their tour by reading the next volume, called “Polly in South America.”

THE END