One day, Stuart sets out on an adventure. His destination is Seventy-second Street. At the bus stop, the other travelers don’t notice him because of his small size. He thinks, “I’m not tall enough to be noticed, yet I’m tall enough to want to go to Seventy-second Street” (27).

On the bus, Stuart tells the driver he doesn’t have an ordinary dime to pay the fare, only a bit of tinfoil that his father has made to look like a Stuart-sized coin. The driver remarks that it’s no wonder, since Stuart is hardly bigger than a dime himself. Stuart is offended to have his size underestimated and declares that he is more than twice the size of a dime.

He leaves the bus at Central Park and hurries to the sailboat pond, where a crowd of men and boys are sailing model ships. The boats are miniature perfection—beautiful sloops and schooners. The most beautiful of them all is the Wasp, a black schooner. Stuart approaches the ship’s owner and asks for a berth (a job) on her.

The owner of the vessel, Dr. Paul Carey, is impressed by Stuart’s manner. He points out one of the other boats, a racing schooner named Lillian B.