A pigeon a day keeps the natives away - Arthur Ransome

They found, like many explorers before them, that somehow, in their absence, they had got into trouble at home.

Grab a chance and you won't be sorry for a might-have-been.

A lot of things were lucky," said Daddy, and suddenly, while they were walking along, brought his hand down on John's shoulder and gave it a bit of a squeeze. "You'll be a seaman yet, my son." And John, for one dreadful moment, felt that something was going wrong with his eyes. A sort of wetness, and hotness... Partly salt... Pleased though he was, he found himself biting his lower lip pretty hard, and looking the other way.