"I can't tell you," Sidney replied with a laugh, and at that moment the voice of Captain Eph could be heard from below:
"Ahoy, Sammy! Are you goin' to stay there all day?"
It seemed as if the first assistant was about to make an impatient reply, as in the days before he had deceived his comrades; but he checked himself ere the first word was uttered, and replied:
"We're comin', Captain Eph. I only wanted to make certain everythin' was ship-shape up here."
Then the two descended the stairs, and they were yet on the floor above the kitchen when Captain Eph shouted again:
"What did they say to you?"
"That's what I wish I knew," the first assistant said emphatically, as he entered the kitchen. "Somebody danced 'round a good bit; but with this wind blowin' dead in his teeth, we couldn't hear so much as a single yip from him."
"But what did he want?" Uncle Zenas asked impatiently. "He must have been after something to come out here when he knew he couldn't land."
Again Mr. Peters was about to make an impatient reply, and again he checked himself in time, replying mildly:
"There was no show for me to find out what he wanted so long as I couldn't hear a word he said. He's gone now, though, an' I wish he hadn't come, for it's mixed us all up."