NIMBUS, RAISING HIM CLEAR OF THE DECK, HELD HIM AT ARM’S-LENGTH ABOVE HIS HEAD.
“I should say I was hungry. I guess anybody would be if he’d had only a couple of dry ship’s biscuit to eat in more than twenty-four hours.”
“Holy feesh!” exclaimed Mateo, “you got ze ship’s cook an’ nottin’ do for eat? zat lazy Nimba! heem no good!”
The two castaways certainly tried their best to lay in a liberal supply of food for future use that evening, and it was hard to tell which was the happier, old Mateo in seeing them eat, or they in eating. Of course Nimbus found fault with each dish, and would not acknowledge that anything was as good as he could have prepared it, had he been lord of the galley, and of course Mateo treated his claims to be considered a cook with scorn. Thus was begun the professional rivalry between these two curious specimens of sea cooks, that offered infinite amusement to the crew of the Fish-hawk, and made this voyage one long to be remembered and laughed over.
When he had reached the stage at which he began to think of ship-biscuit much as Wolfe had done after their first meal on the brig, Breeze left the cooks to settle their differences as best they might, and went on deck for a talk with the skipper. From him he learned that the Fish-hawk was only four days out from Gloucester, and that when he last saw Mrs. McCloud she was well, though worrying sadly over the unexplained disappearance of her boy.[boy.]
“How did it all happen, Breeze?” asked the captain. “Wolfe Brady tried to tell me something about it, but I hadn’t time to hear much.”
“Wolfe Brady!” exclaimed Breeze. “What do you mean? Where have you seen Wolfe Brady?”
"Why, yesterday! Didn’t I tell you? How careless! I thought I told you first thing after you came aboard that we fell in with the Esmeralda yesterday; no, I mean to-day, for it isn’t midnight yet, about noon, and seeing her signal of distress I went aboard of her.
“I was never more surprised in my life than when I found your father and Wolfe Brady on the vessel, and all alone. You could have knocked me down with a rope yarn. They were in terrible low spirits over losing you, and didn’t know how to account for it. They had not waked until daylight, and had no idea of how long you had been gone or what had happened. Their only hope was that so long as the black man and the dory had gone too, you were both drifting round somewhere in it. They would have put their brig about and started back to look for you, but they hadn’t the strength to swing the yards. Altogether they formed a melancholy ship’s company.”