He said to the boatman: “Hey…you know the name of that destroyer?”
The man nodded. “That’s the Whelp,” he said—“a nice ship—one of the big ones. That’s her captain going aboard—Captain Ransome.”
Berg said: “Yeah—and where’s Dayton? Let’s get a move on, shall we?”
The man said: “I’m getting there as fast as I can. She’s over on the other side. Who you looking for—an officer? I reckon I know most of ’em by sight.”
Berg said: “No, I’m looking for a Chief Machinist’s Mate—a guy named Shakkey. Would you know him?”
The man shook his head.
Berg threw his cigarette end into the water, sat relaxed in the stern of the dinghy, looking at the shadows on the other bank. Three or four minutes later the boatman pulled his dinghy round.
He said: “There you are.”
They floated up close to the accomm
