"Aye, sir," repeated Bill, liking his look, "from the hair of my head to the soles of my feet, and these two are Americans, just as much American as I am British."
"And what can you do?" asked the Skipper, for it was he undoubtedly. "This young fellow," and he pointed to Jim, "looks strong and steady, and could do almost any job aboard. Young Bill, here, will fit in almost anywhere, but you——" and he pointed a finger at the diminutive Larry. Even to be unusually kind to him and a little flattering, Larry, with his small attenuated figure, his ill-fitting clothes, his absurdly big head, and his somewhat buccaneering appearance, was anything but an attractive object, and certainly looked as though he were hardly capable of strenuous work. "But you——" repeated the Skipper; "now I have my doubts!"
It was like Larry to fire up at once.
"Doubts! See here, Old Man," he growled.
Whereat Jim put out a restraining hand, and Tom, enjoying the joke, roared heartily.
"He can do a day's hard work with anyone, yep," said Jim; "and if you was to get into any sort of trouble this here Larry would be a good man: he can shoot, he can. When we're out at sea he'll give you a show, and if it's a case of hitting a dollar at ten yards or of perforating a tin that's thrown in the air, why Larry's your man. And he ain't so fierce as he looks, nor so delicate neither."
The upshot of the whole thing was that then and there the three were taken on as hands aboard the vessel, for indeed it was hard to obtain full crews just at that period. A day later the ship cast off her mooring, backed into the Hudson River, and, swinging round with the assistance of a tug, was soon steering out towards the ocean. Little did Bill and his friends dream, as they looked back and watched New York disappear, and the banks of the beautiful Hudson River sink into the distance, that their voyage to Europe and to France would prove as eventful, even more so, as had been their last few weeks at the copper mine, where the German had put in an appearance.
A peaceful voyage was denied them, first, because the weather was unpropitious. A hurricane faced them as they gained the ocean, and for four or five days the vessel whirled amongst the waves, huge masses of spray bursting over her forecastle, while her decks heaved and tossed in a manner which tried even Tom and older sailors. As for Bill and Jim and Larry, all the fight was knocked out of them.
"I'd rather die!" groaned Larry, after many hours had passed, as he lay prostrated in his bunk. "Here, you, Tom!" he said feebly, "take me up and shy me overboard. I'd like to drown."