“Why the spigot was stopped up. One of the sailors had dropped his ball of rope yarn, with which he was mending sails, into the barrel one day, and there it was inside plumb up against the spigot.”
“How’d you get it out?” asked Ned.
“I run my hand down in the barrel, rolling up my sleeve of course, and got the ball out. Then the molasses run just the same as before. There was some kicking though, account of me licking the molasses off my arm. The men claimed I got more than my share.”
In spite of their anxiety the boys could not help laughing at the sailor’s story.
“I thought maybe some pipe or other got stopped up, and the molasses or whatever it is you run that engine with, might not be flowing.”
“I never thought of that,” Jerry said. “Wait until I take a look.”
“How can you look in the gasolene tank?” came from Bob.
“Well then, feel, if it suits you better.”
Jerry moved forward and was about to remove the cover from the tank, when a cry from Sam stopped him.
“Here comes a big steamer!” the sailor yelled. “It’s bearing right down on us, and we can’t move out of her course!”