“Yes, sir,” said the man slowly; and in a voice which did not reach the others, “but had I not better tell you what I was thinking first?”
“Well, go on,” said the captain shortly.
“We might want the whale—for food.”
Captain Marsham gave quite a start, for there was so much meaning in those few words, suggestive as they were of their being starving in the open boat, and he sat there gazing full in the man’s eyes.
“You think, then, that we may not find the ship?” he said in a whisper.
“The good God only knows,” said the Norseman, taking off his cap. “We are in His hands; but it is our duty to provide for the worst.”
“Yes,” said the captain slowly, “you are quite right, my man; let the fish stay.”
“There!” cried Steve, starting up again. “I’m sure I heard it then!”
“Steve!” cried the captain angrily, as he turned sharply on the boy.
“Yes, I heard it then,” said Johannes slowly, as he held his hands behind his ears and leaned toward the stern.