“No, sir,” answered Sidney, “only one; but a few of ’em look a little green-like, sir.”
“Who are they?”
“Well, sir, there’s Dickie Gray and Chip Smith—they don’t seem to be quite first-rate yet, sir.”
“Send Gray down to me,” said the Chairman, who then got out of his bunk and took his coat down from the bulkhead.
There was a sound of running feet on the deck, for the messenger always did his errands on the run, and, in another minute, Dick was in the cabin.
“You sent for me, sir?”
“Yes,” said the Chairman, “sit down there on the locker a minute. How far are we from ‘Whale’s Back’?”
“The lookout has just reported ‘Whale’s Back’ in sight, sir.”
“Really,” said the Chairman, “that is very interesting; because now you can tell me how far we are from Portsmouth Harbor.”
“How is that, sir?” asked Dick.