Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/109

91 to leave Captain Saulsby, since it was nearest his house; he was somewhat surprised, therefore, to see two of the bluejackets disembark  with them, and send the launch back to the  ship.

“We were to meet the two officers here,” one of them explained, “and I had written orders  to give them from the Captain. We saw them signal from here that they would be waiting:  I can’t understand why we don’t find them. I will just have to go around to the hotel with  the orders, I suppose, and see if I can find  them there.”

“Come with us, then,” said Billy, “and I will show you the short way. It is only a few minutes’ walk to Captain Saulsby’s, and won’t  take you any time to go on to the hotel.”

He proved to be wrong, however, in more than one particular. It was a good half hour before they were able to get Captain Saulsby  even the short distance down to the edge of the  mill-stream. Although protesting loudly that he had suffered no harm from yesterday’s mishap and that such an adventure was nothing to an old sailor like himself, the Captain was,  nevertheless, unable to hide the fact that he  was thoroughly spent and ill. Even with a