“Don’t make no nefer mindt aboudt gedtting prettied oop,” grinned the old quartermaster grimly, as Jack plunged his face into a basin of cold water and parted his tousled hair; “maype vee gedt idt a spill in der vater before ve gedt back der ship py.”
“There, what did I tell you?” demanded Sam triumphantly; but Jack only grinned.
There was a great trampling about on the decks outside. The men who had been selected to form the boat’s crew, the pick of the sailors, were running about, loading the small craft with provisions and barrels of fresh water.
To the men this sudden call for a trip to the shore came in the nature of a junket. It afforded an agreeable bit of relaxation in the midst of the hum-drum monotony of sea life. A sailor on such an expedition is like a boy off on a picnic. The men joked and laughed as, in the gray of the early light, they hustled about between boat and storeroom.
Dr. Flynn, to Jack’s disappointment, was unable to go. A sick patient on board demanded all his attention. But he put up a case of medicines for the old light keeper and gave Jack directions how to administer them; for, by means of the old man’s symptoms, transmitted by wireless through Jack, the doctor of the Tropic Queen had been able to diagnose the trouble as being a case of tropic fever.
At last all was ready, and a few early-rising passengers saw the boat lowered and pulled away for the dim speck of land on the far horizon that marked the site of Sombrero Island. A few moments later the stopping of the Tropic Queen’s engines aroused the other passengers, and before the breakfast bugle blew, the ship was humming with conjecture and surmise as to the reason for the sudden check in the voyage.
A bulletin, posted by the captain’s orders, dispelled the mystery. It also announced that the boat was expected back by evening at the latest.
[CHAPTER XXI—A TALE OF THE SEA]
The boat, urged by strong arms, fairly flew over the water. Quartermaster Schultz served out breakfast to the crew in relays, for no time had been taken for eating before they started. Jack felt in high spirits. The morning was clear and quite cool. The scorching heat of the day would not come till later, when the sun rose higher.
“Ach, idt vos a badt ding to be on a lighdthouse midout help from der supply boat undt not knowing if you vill lif or die,” said the old quartermaster, as he sat in the stern sheets with Jack. “I rememper ven I vos younger vunce I vos tired of der sea undt ships, undt I take idt a yob on a lighdthouse off der coast of Oregon on der Bacific.