“Were you really aboard the Rambler before?” asked Case.
“Of course he was,” interrupted Paul. “Didn’t he set my broken leg? That’s some surgeon!”
“But I don’t see how you got away from the pirates,” Jule exclaimed. “They don’t let go when they get hold of a man like you. They cling to him like a puppy to a root!”
“Well,” said Theodore, known forever thereafter as “Thede,” “you see, the outlaws had need of my services. They had a man shot through the lungs, and I came along in my skiff just in time to be too late. They rewarded me by stealing my instruments and putting me off the boat just below the spot I set this boy’s leg.”
“Then you must have had a long walk in the rain,” Case remarked. “And you must be good and hungry.”
“I could eat a rhinoceros right now!” said the surgeon. “I have been waiting for an invitation to eat.”
Alex sprang to his feet.
“That makes me think that I haven’t had a square meal since I left the Rambler!” he exclaimed. “Now, if the river thieves haven’t cleaned out the refrigerator, I’ll get you a supper that’ll make you sit up and take notice!”
It was pretty poor picking in the refrigerator, but there was plenty of tinned goods, and the boys managed to get a very satisfying meal. Alex washed the dishes under protest!
“Where do you want to get off?” asked Case, as the Rambler, still with the Esmeralda in tow, headed toward the Gulf of Mexico.