Duprez and Macfarlane had grown tired of waiting for their
truant companions, and had taken the first clumsy wherry that presented
itself, rowed by an even clumsier Norwegian boatman, whom they had been
compelled to engage also, as he would not let his ugly punt out of his
sight, for fear some harm might chance to befall it. Thus attended, they
were on their way back to the yacht. With a few long, elegant strokes,
Errington and Lorimer soon brought their boat alongside, and their
friends gladly jumped into it, delighted to be free of the company of
the wooden-faced mariner they had so reluctantly hired, and who now, on
receiving his fee, paddled awkwardly away in his ill-constructed craft,
without either a word of thanks or salutation. Errington began to
apologize at once for his long absence, giving as a reason for it, the
necessity he found himself under of making a call on some persons of
importance in the neighborhood, whom he had, till now, forgotten.
"My good Phil-eep!" cried Duprez, in his cheery sing song accent, "why
apologize? We have amused ourselves! Our dear Sandy has a vein of humor
that is astonishing! We have not wasted our time.
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