It is not to be supposed that the boys escaped a severe attack of seasickness when the Day Dream was tossing about on the Atlantic swell.
Both had indulged in a certain amount of yachting in the river and sound; but the violent leaps and plunges of the schooner were something so entirely different from what they had been accustomed to, that all power of resistance was lost immediately giddiness and nausea seized their victims.
Therefore it was that the first two days out were not particularly enjoyed by the boys; but, at the expiration of that time, even the suggestion of fried salt pork failed to disturb them, and once more they were in a condition to speculate upon the possibility of finding a buried treasure.
That old Andy had not succeeded in going ashore they knew, because of having seen him several times; but his fears had not been allayed, as could be told by the expression on his face. He had the appearance of one who fancies he is menaced by a sudden and immediate danger, and glanced from time to time over his shoulder, looking, as Nelse expressed it, “as if he believed half-a-dozen pirates were trying to sneak up on him.”
Half-an-hour after their first appearance on deck since the yacht left Sandy Hook, the boys paid the cook a visit, and hardly were they inside the galley when he broached the subject uppermost in his mind by asking:
“Has you’se done gone tole de captin ’bout wha’s gwine ter happen ef dis yere schooner fools ’roun’ de shore ob Hayti?”
“We haven’t done much of anything else than attend to our stomachs for the last two days, Andy,” Gil replied, with a laugh. “Why don’t you speak to him about it?”
“I’se had ernough ob dat kin’ ob work. De night we done lef’ port I tole him as how dis nigger wouldn’t stay aboard, an’ by jes’ de po’est kin’ ob luck dere was a rope’s end handy fur him to grab.”
Andy rubbed his back, thus preventing any necessity for further disclosures, and the boys laughed heartily, thereby causing the old man to lose his temper.
“Dere ain’ no fun in dem tings, an’ de captin’s gwine ter fin’ out de se’rus side ob life ef he keeps dis yere craf’ headed like she am now.”