"A sailor, mynheer," Koyala announced.
"A sailor?" Van Slyck exclaimed incredulously. "Who?"
"Mynheer Peter Gross, of Batavia."
Van Slyck and Muller stared at each other blankly, each vainly trying to recall ever having heard the name before.
"Pieter Gross, Pieter Gross, he must be a newcomer," Van Slyck remarked. "I have not heard of him before, have you, mynheer?"
"There is no one by that name in the colonial service," Muller declared, shaking his head. "You say he is of Batavia, Koyala?"
"Of Batavia, mynheer, but by birth and upbringing, and everything else, a Yankee."
"A Yankee?" her hearers chorused incredulously.
"Yes, a Yankee. Mate on a trading vessel, or so he was a year ago. He has been in the Indies the past seven years."
Van Slyck broke into a roar of laughter.