That nondescript piece of bunting meant something real to the British Sea Scouts. Even though they had not long left their native shores they were already fully aware that they were strangers in a foreign land, but here was a bit of England--technically British soil although afloat--and the sight of it was cheering. The harbourmaster, purple with incoherent shouting, hurried along the quay-side, waving his arms and pointing frenziedly at the on-coming tramp. "What does he want?" exclaimed Hepburn. "I rather fancy he wants us to shift," remarked Peter. The Patrol Leader's surmise was confirmed by a voice hailing from the tramp's bridge. "Ahoy, there!" shouted a short, thick-set, jovial-looking officer clad in a salt-stained serge uniform. "Can you drop astern a couple of lengths?" "Ay, ay," replied Peter, and in a very short time the _Olivette's_ warps were cast off and the boat tracked aft along the quay. When the _Acacis_--for that was the tramp's name--was safely berthed, the officer who had hailed the _Olivette_ came aft. "Thanks!" he exclaimed. "You Sea Scouts know your job, I can see." "Thank you," replied Peter. "May we come aboard you and have a look round?" "Right-o," was the reply. The skipper of the _Acacis_--bound from Cardiff to Cherbourg and Le Havre--made the Sea Scouts right welcome. It was, for the majority of them, the first opportunity they had had of "looking over" a big vessel. "Yes, it'll blow before night," the skipper observed in answer to Peter's question. "We struck it pretty bad off the Longships, and right across the Channel there was a tidy roll on. That generally means a bit of a blow. You'll be here for the best part of a week, I'll allow." The Sea Scouts showed no enthusiasm over this piece of information. Flemming was positively downhearted. "Look here," suggested the _Acacis_' Old Man, when he learnt of the unwelcome attentions of the Cherbourg gamins, "why not lie alongside of us? You'll get a tidy bit of coal-dust, but that's a jolly sight better than cabbage-stalks and dead cats dumped on your deck." The offer was gladly accepted. The _Olivette's_ bow-warp was passed on board the tramp and the boat hauled alongside the _Acacis_' starboard side. Sheltered by the latter vessel's towering hull, the _Olivette_ was no longer a target for the ragamuffins of the port. As the skipper had predicted, it blew hard at sunset, the gale continuing all the following day, accompanied by heavy showers. But the _Olivette_ was in snug shelter, the basin being completely landlocked, while the rain did not prevent the Sea Scouts enjoying the hospitality of their French friends.