“There’s the Captain now!” cried War, spying the officer on deck. “Hi, Captain! May we come aboard?”
“We sail in thirty minutes,” the Captain returned shortly. “You’d only be in the way.”
War would have pressed the matter, but Jack gave him a quick nudge.
“Let it slide,” he advised. “No use getting the Captain’s goat again. Come on, we can watch the loading from shore.”
Hiding their annoyance, the Explorers sought a patch of shade in the lee of a large warehouse. Stevedores trundled boxes and barrels of cargo aboard. Captain Carter remained on deck personally supervising the job.
The boxes marked for the Scout expedition were raised in a great net and swung down into the hold. The stevedores then moved the overflow up the gangplank.
In an ugly temper, Captain Carter berated the men for being slow. One fellow, who carried an especially heavy load, stumbled on the uneven planking. Either by accident or design, he permitted a box to slip from his shoulder into the water.
“Stupid idiot!” Captain Carter shouted. “Brainless! Can’t you watch what you’re doing?”
Jack and Ken instantly leaped to their feet. Seizing a grappling hook, they tried to raise the sunken box from the shallow water.
“Lay off that!” Captain Carter shouted, even more furiously.