“At any rate,” he said to himself, “I’ll not interfere with them, for Breeze seems to have a quieting way with the old gentleman, and maybe hearing another strange voice might send him off again.”
All at once his attention was attracted by the sudden appearance of the most uncouth and altogether peculiar human face he had ever seen. The head to which it belonged had just been lifted cautiously above the cabin companion-way, and the great eyes, which seemed to Wolfe to be wholly white, were rolling wildly at the sight of the strangers. The face was the color of black ashes, the flat nose expanded into a pair of enormous nostrils, while the lips were of unusual thickness, even for a full-blooded negro. This strange face was set off, and in a manner overshadowed, by a pair of most remarkable ears. Not only were they large, but they projected almost at right angles from the head, which gave them the appearance of always being pricked forward with an air of extreme attention or curiosity. Above and in front of these the head was covered with a thick growth of kinky hair, which had been for so long brushed, pulled, or otherwise trained forward that it surrounded the face like a sort of a furry hood. On account of it some wag in the far-away country from which this odd-looking individual came had called him “Nimbus,” and this name had clung to him ever since. He was so short as to be almost a dwarf, but his body was thick-set, and powerful enough to belong to a giant. The length of his arms was extraordinary, and so was the size of his feet, but his legs were so ridiculously short that he waddled rather than walked. He was as strong as two ordinary strong men, and at the same time he was tender-hearted, obliging, good-natured, a fair sailor, and a capital cook. He was a Guinea negro, from the west coast of Africa, but had passed the greater part of his life in the galleys of sailing-vessels, and had thus visited most of the principal ports of the world. He was fond of occasionally returning to his own country, which he managed to do about once in every two or three years. Such was the individual who now appeared at the top of the companion-ladder, and exclaimed,
"T’ank de good Lord, gemmen, you’s come at las’! Me an’ de cap’n, we’se been habin’ a mons’rous hard time, an’ we’se mos’ gib up. You mus’ scuse me, gemmen, fur not bein’ on de deck to receib you proper an’ ship-shape, but I ain’t had no sleep fur more’n a week, an’ I jus’ takin’ a nap. You see, fus’ de port watch on deck all night, den de cook he busy waitin’ on de cap’n all night, den de starbor’ watch he up all night, den de fus’ ossifer, den de secon’ ossifer, dey don’ get no sleep all night, an’ I is all ob um. Yes, sah, ole Nim he ebberyt’ing but cap’n ob de Esmeral now. De res’ all dead an’ go oberboard. De feber catch um. Sometime one, sometime two, t’ree togedder. De las’ one, he de fus’ mate, die more’n t’ree day. De cap’n here, he mos’ die, but ole Nim pull um troo; couldn’ be lef’ alone nohow. Where[Where] you’ ship, eh?"
As he asked this question Nimbus looked around with a perplexed air, in search of the vessel from which he supposed these strangers must have come.
Wolfe was delighted with this odd character, and now glad of a chance to use his tongue, he told their story as briefly as possible, and ended by saying that they were awfully hungry.
Nothing pleased Nimbus more than a chance to cook for strangers; and, with a broad grin on his hooded face, he waddled away towards the galley, saying,
“Dreckly, gemmen! dreckly ole Nim get you mons’rous fine breakfus.”
In the mean time Captain McCloud had recovered his composure, and now, to Wolfe’s amazement, Breeze introduced him as his father. At the same time he said, “Wolfe Brady is my dorymate, father, and next to you and mother, my dearest friend. We haven’t known each other very long, but what we’ve been through with has made us pretty well acquainted.”
“ME AN’ DE CAP’N, WE’S BEEN HABIN’ A MONS’ROUS HARD TIME.”