Explore "The Boys of the "Puffin"" by Percy F. Westerman on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
AT six o'clock the _Thetis_, with her ensign flying at half-mast, staggered into Mapplewick Harbour. Willing hands assisted to berth her alongside the jetty -- a willingness prompted by the sight of the half-masted colours, while a crowd of curious onlookers could hardly be restrained from questioning the two grey-faced men who formed the crew of the storm-beaten yacht.
Half-dazed by the magnitude of the calamity, Grant and Clifton went ashore to perform their sad duty -- to report the loss of one of the crew and to telegraph the grim tidings to Craddock's parents.