A noise close at hand caused me to look round. Two paces from me a hatchway was opened, and out of the hatchway emerged the figure of a man who was standing on the ladder, but whose head rose high enough above the deck to allow him to see over the low bulwarks. His short stiff hair, his broad face, his bare muscular neck, his breast open almost to the belt, his shirt which had once been striped with red, and his trousers which had once been white--were all covered with a thick black deposit of coal-dust; and as he was blinking with his small eyes almost shut in order to see more keenly some distant object, he would have presented an unbroken surface of blackness, had he not at this moment expanded an immense mouth into a joyous grin, and displayed two rows of teeth of unsurpassed whiteness. And now he raised himself a few inches higher, waved his great black hand as a greeting towards the beach, and all at once I recognized him.
"Klaus!" I called out.
"Hallo!" he cried, starting, and quickly bringing his small eyes to bear upon me.
"That was a mighty affectionate salute of yours, Klaus."
Klaus blushed visibly through his rind of soot, and showed all his teeth. "Why, in the name of ----, George," cried he, "where do you come from, and what has brought you here?"
"And what has brought you here?"
"I have been here ever since Easter. I have had it in my mind for some time to come to see you and inquire after your health."
"You foolish fellow, why do you put on that respectful tone with me?"
"Oh, you belong to the great folks now," replied Klaus, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the quarter-deck.
"I wish I were below with you, and you would give me a good thick slice of bread and butter. Hang the great folks, as you call them."