Five minutes later he returned to the deck refreshed by his bath, and almost himself again.
As he dried himself with a towel, he said:—
“Two of you go below and get supper. Make it a big one, for we are all starving. And get it as quickly as you can.” Then, after a brief pause, he added:—
“You didn’t notice it, I suppose, but we’re out of the woods!”
“How so?” asked Ed and Irv in unison.
“There’s an open river just ahead,” replied Phil. “Go forward and look. I’m going to sleep now. Wake me up when supper is ready.”
And in a moment the exhausted boy was sound asleep, stretched out upon a hard plank, without pillow or other comfort of any kind.
“Poor fellow!” said Irv. “He’s got the big end of this job all the time.”
With that he dived below, and returning, placed a pillow under Phil’s bandaged head, and spread a blanket over him, for the air was chill.