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 clear of the little harbor and her broad nose had been pointed up-stream. She moved sluggishly since, as Brose Wilkins remarked, she probably had enough water under her deck to fill a pond. "Water-line's 'most a foot under," said Brose, "but she'll come all right as soon as she gets started." The boys thought the three-quarter-inch manila rope that Brose was using as a tow line perilously weak, but it proved quite equal to its purpose. At first the little one-lung engine threatened to throb itself into junk in its effort to move the Pequot Queen, but gradually the larger craft got under way, imperceptibly at first, and the voyage up the river began. It was slow going, but the tiny launch never faltered, and the Pequot Queen, having, as it seemed, finally made up her mind to say good-by to her old home and set forth on an exciting adventure, displayed a cheerful willingness to follow this new acquaintance.

On the coal-wharf a half-dozen workers paused in their labors and stared incredulously. One shouted a question, and after that the ''Pequot Queen'' wallowed leisurely past to a chorus of ribald comments. In answer Laurie, seated on