That gave us sailors the clew, and we laughed.
The girl was puzzled. Kreelman asked:
“Did you ever hear of a Rhode Island clambake, miss?”
Of course she had not, and Kreelman enlightened her as to the similar method of cooking with heated stones. In twenty-five minutes Sarah threw off the canvas and we men pitched off the stones. Sarah tested the good things with a fork, and pronounced them well done. Then pointing at what looked like a coffee-pot on the live coals of the fire near by, she said:
“There is something that looks like civilization. In it is a drink that tastes like coffee, which we make from roots and herbs.”
We sat down in the house, and the women proposed to wait on us; but we protested. So the good things were brought in, and we all sat down together. And what a repast! One may say that the things merely seemed delicious because we had lived for many months on ship fare. Perhaps that quickened our appetite, but after all these long years I must say that I never enjoyed a better-cooked meal. After we rose, I noticed on the wall a picture of Queen Victoria, and beneath it written in a large, free hand a National Anthem, composed by Reverend G. H. Nobbs. He was the beloved pastor who was now with most of his flock at Norfolk Island. There were three stanzas. I was granted permission to copy them. The first stanza is as follows:
’Mid the mighty Southern Ocean
Stands an isolated rock,
Blanchèd by the surf’s commotion,
Riven by the lightning’s shock.