There was a pause, during which Socrates laughed quietly to himself, while Abeuchapeta and the one-sided Morgan wept silently.
“That, gentlemen of the Associated Shades, is all I know of the whereabouts of the House-boat,” continued Captain Kidd. “I have no doubt that the ladies practised a deception, to our discomfiture, and I must say that I think it was exceedingly clever—granting that it was desirable to be rid of us, which I don’t, for we meant well by them, and they would have enjoyed themselves.”
“But,” cried Hamlet, “may they not now be in peril? They cannot navigate that ship.”
“They got her out of the harbor all right,” said Kidd. “And I judged from the figure at the helm that Mrs. Noah had taken charge. What kind of a seaman she is I don’t know.”
“Almighty bad,” ejaculated Shem, turning pale. “It was she who ran us ashore on Ararat.”
“Well, wasn’t that what you wanted?” queried Munchausen.
“What we wanted!” cried Shem. “Well, I guess not. You don’t want your yacht stranded on a mountain-top, do you? She was a dead loss there, whereas if mother hadn’t been in such a hurry to get ashore, we could have waited a month and landed on the seaboard.”
“You might have turned her into a summer hotel,” suggested Munchausen.
“Well, we must up anchor and away,” said Holmes. “Our pursuit has merely begun, apparently. We must overtake this vessel, and the question to be answered is—where?”
“That’s easy,” said Artemus Ward. “From what Shem says, I think we’d better look for her in the Himalayas.”