A rope ladder was lowered to them and one by one they clambered on deck. Jack, as commander of the sunken tender, came last. He found an excited group clustered round his two shipmates asking a perfect tornado of questions. Lanterns gave light and revealed the faces of the group.
Foremost among the questioners was a little old man, with a gnarled face, like those you sometimes see carved on pipes. His skin was burned a rich mahogany color and his eyes twinkled restlessly. He was dressed as if he were the captain of the ship, in a pilot coat with brass buttons and a seaman’s cap with crossed anchors. Beneath his coat could be seen the end of a wooden leg with which he stamped impatiently on the deck as he volleyed his questions. Just as Jack appeared he had drawn from his coat a big medicine bottle which he offered to Sherry.
“Take a pull of this, mate,� he crief in gruff, sailor-like tones, “t’wont hurt yer.�
“What is it?� demanded Sherry, “I’m no drinking man.�
“It’s not liquor,â€� the other assured him volubly, “it’s Cap’n Toby Ready’s Universal Remedy and Banisher of Pain in Man and Beast. It’s made frum the best of yarbs and roots under my personal supervision and—great tom cats!â€�
“Hullo, Uncle Toby,� said Jack, coming forward and causing this abrupt breaking off of Uncle Toby’s eulogy on his favorite concoction.
“Jack! Sufferin’ humanity! It’s Jack!� cried the old man. “How under the almighty sun did you get here. Did I run you down? How did it happen? What were you doing?�
“One question at a time, Uncle Toby,� laughed Jack. “Can’t we all go aft to your cabin and I’ll tell you everything leading up to this queer meeting.�
“Queer you may well call it,� vociferated Uncle Toby, “broomsticks and bangaloons, if I ever heard the like, and me sailin’ the Seven Seas. But heave to there, Toby, you ain’t doing the polite. Jack, I want you ter meet my partner, Mr. Rufus Terrill, of Terrill & Co.�
“How d’ye do, my dear young man, how d’ye do.�