As plates, dishes, glasses, castors, knives, forks and spoons were in turn placed upon the table, the captain of the Sea Scourge looked on with ever-increasing amazement. Turning his eyes from the well-appointed table to the comfortably-furnished grotto, he said:
“It appears to me that you saved a great deal from the wreck.”
“Yes,” said Justin, cautiously, for he could not as yet feel full confidence in his guest; “yes, the ship was cast very high upon the rocks, and when the sea went down she was almost entirely out of the water, and we saved at least enough furniture from the cabins and dining-saloons to fit up this grotto comfortably. The crockery in the dining-saloon suffered most in the storm, for out of a mountain of broken glass and earthenware, we rescued only a dozen or so of whole pieces; and indeed the whole pieces are not entirely whole, for there is scarcely one that is not cracked or chipped.”
“It must have been a stupendous labor for one man to get all these things, especially this heavy furniture, from the wrecked ship to the shore.”
“It was the labor of months,” answered Justin, “but I did not accomplish it alone. Miss Conyers brought all the light articles over, and Judith Riordan, who is a model of strength, assisted me to bring the heavy ones.”
While the two men conversed, Judith, under the direction of Britomarte, spread the table with a cold ham, a chicken pie, a loaf of bread, cheese, and a bottle of brandy.
“Brandy, too!” exclaimed the captain of the Sea Scourge, on beholding this last welcome addition to the feast. “Brandy, too! you are very fortunate, as well as industrious. You must have saved a lot of it, to have lasted you nearly two years.”
“Nay,” said Justin, evasively, “we saved some bottles, but as we kept it in case of illness, and never required its use in that contingency, the store could not give out.”
“Then I assure you, if I were going to leave you a settled colonist upon this Desert Isle, I would not touch a drop of your brandy, but as I hope to take you all with me when I sail, I will gladly drink it to your health and happiness,” said the captain of the Sea Scourge, suiting the action to the word by helping himself liberally to the brandy.
“Sure if he’s not a fraybooter itself, it’s fray and aisy he is entirely,” muttered Judith, as she passed Miss Conyers on her way to the kitchen. Britomarte smiled, and Judith presently reappeared with a pitcher of water, which she also set upon the table.