“I am _so_ glad you’ve won, Nancy,” she said. “You don’t know how glad.”
“So am I,” answered Nancy, softly, her glance seeking one face out of all the crowd. “Where’s father?”
“Here I be, mate!” called the old skipper, joyously, and right there before the crowd, he swung Nancy up in his arms, and kissed her proudly.
Just then the Commodore himself appeared, and he bore the fateful cup. Blushing, and with downcast lashes, Nancy listened to the presentation speech. She couldn’t quite catch it all, but there was one expression that lingered. He called her a daughter of the old Pine Tree State, who had borne off a trophy that should remind her not only of a deserved victory but also of the friendship and fellowship of the sister club, the Orienta Juniors.
“Neatly put,” said the old Admiral, as they journeyed back home, and for the first time he was a guest on the _Tidy Jane_. “Nancy, you’re a conquering heroine, my dear, like your namesake, Nancy Lee, and the Captain, and Polly and I are proud of you.”
When they reached Lost Island, the Doctor detained Polly a moment at the landing, while the others went on to the house. “I have a trophy for the second in the race, one that is given jointly by Father Neptune and myself,” he said, as he reached his hand into his pocket mysteriously, then held it out to Polly. On the open palm lay one of the pearls from Ceylon.
“Just in memory of many happy days and many jars of marmalade,” he smiled, as Polly took it, speechless and radiant. “And I want to tell you a secret. You accused me, Miss Polly, of using marmalade as bait. But I never did anything of the kind. Don’t laugh, now. What I did do was to eat it and imbibe courage and peace and a settled happiness from the atmosphere of Lost Island, so that I have triumphed. I am going back to Washington this week myself. I have found the polypi!”
Two days remained to the girls, but they were so taken up in packing, and preparing Aunty Welcome for the trip back South, that they passed swiftly. Saturday morning the carry-all bore them over to Eastport, but it had to make two trips, and each time it stopped at Fair Havens, where Mrs. Carey and Nancy said goodbye to the girls, and the Captain waved them a salute.