Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/90

 about two years Nelson's senior, slim, sun-browned and merry, and Nelson took to him on the instant. But it was Billy who answered; Billy always had an answer ready.

"Sure, I'll put 'em on," he said. "I'll take the pink ones."

"Right-o! Me for you, son! Come on in and pick them out."

But Billy declined to carry his bluff any further. "Tell you what I will do, though," he hedged. "I'll take 'em now and wear 'em the day we march into Berlin!"

"Nothing doing, old man. I want to live to see it. What's the Wanderer? Mine-layer?"

"No, coast patrol," answered Billy. "We bust a shaft the other day chasing a U-boat and are in for repairs."

"Chasing a U-boat? Sounds exciting. Catch her?"

"We would have, but she wasn't there," replied Billy gravely. "Are you up at the submarine base? Do they allow folks in there?"

"Yes. And they don't. But if you want to look us over I'll fix it for you. What are you doing now? Want to run up and see us? I'll give you transportation." He nodded at a vividly blue roadster automobile at the curb. "That's 68