"You look out for your own furnaces, old man; I'll attend to mine, and if I get stuck I'll ask somebody who knows."
The gang laughed at this, and the fellow whom Rush had answered so sharply, glared angrily at the tall, slender lad who was throwing coal into the white-hot mouth of the furnace. He was doing his work almost as methodically as though he was used to it, save that his aim was not quite as sure as in the case of the more experienced men.
After having watched the boys at work for a few minutes, Mr. Macrae nodded to himself, then climbed up the ladders to the deck. He met the master soon after.
"Get those boys to work?" demanded Captain Simms.
"Yes."
"Any good?"
"Pretty likely pair. They have the strength of yearling bulls. Where did they come from? I didn't see them when we came out."
"No, they came out of the hold," grinned Captain Simms.
"Out of the hold?"