Dignity forbade Lis to hurry at all after that final taunt, so he slowed his steps to a leisurely walk, suppressing a grin, however, at the girl’s sauciness. Lis never lost his temper at being teased, as Tommy sometimes did. When he arrived, cool and unruffled, at the far end of the wharf, a few minutes later, the clipper’s boat was well in toward shore, and Erica, balanced precariously on a pile of lumber at the wharf’s side, was waving both arms like the big windmill on the hill behind the little gray town at her back. “It is father,” she shouted to Lis in triumph. “Climb up here so he can see you, too!” Five minutes later a tall, blue-coated figure with a shock of unruly red hair like Erica’s own came up the ladder-like steps of the wharf, and Erica had hurled herself into a pair of strong, welcoming arms that lifted her high off her tiptoes in a breath-taking sweep. “Fa-ather!” she said in a voice that was half a sob. “Oh, what a _glorious_ surprise! And is that honestly the _Sea Gull_ out there? And did you—” “Belay there, young woman, and let us both get our breath back,” Captain Eric chuckled, his sea-blue eyes—of which his daughter’s were an unmistakable copy, twinkle and all—beaming from the girl to his nephew. “Lis, my boy, I’m glad to see you. I’ve been hearing quite a lot about some Chinese adventures of yours.” “Yes, sir,” Lis twinkled back. “But they turned out all right, as you see. I’m afraid I gave the family a bit of a scare, though.” Instead of setting Erica down on her feet, her father turned with a quick move, and lifted her down the ladder-steps into the arms of a burly, middle-aged sailor standing in the little boat below. “Come along, Lis,” he added, casually, as though this had been all part of a long-prepared plan. “I’ve got a surprise for the two of you on board that ship of mine out there. I had sort of a notion you’d both see her come in, and be down here, waiting.” It did not take Lis long to accept the invitation, and scrambling down the steps in his uncle’s wake, he found a seat in the stern beside Erica. The boat was pushed off by one of the sailors, heading out toward the channel; and the even dip and pull of the dripping oar-blades began rhythmically. But though Erica’s tongue wagged faster than the oars could move, as she begged her father excitedly for at least a hint regarding the kind of surprise that awaited them, not a word would the smiling captain say on the subject. Instead he demanded news of the family, and expressed much surprise at hearing of the unexpected plan which had brought both Folger households under the same roof. However, he agreed that it was an excellent arrangement, under the existing circumstances; though he added, rather mysteriously, that he had an idea he could suggest something that might be even a better rest for Aunt Charity.