Joe got the water. Captain Bagley poured the lemon juice into it, and added some sugar. In no time the mixture was steaming.
"Drink it," said the captain.
"I'm full," said Alec. "I just had two cups of hot coffee."
"Shut up and drink it," said the captain.
As Alec took the proffered draught and began to sip it, the captain roared, "Drink it!" And Alec downed the whole quart.
"Now stand just as close to the fire as you can. Joe, put on more draft. Can't you get her any hotter?"
The stove was already cherry red, but that did not satisfy the energetic skipper. Joe poked up the fire and Alec got as close to the stove as he could. Soon he began to perspire profusely.
"Good!" said the oyster skipper, as he saw the beads of sweat gather and run down Alec's face. "Now, you young rascal, tell us how all this happened."
Briefly Alec related the story of his adventure.