"That is good," he added, "though it is a little warm."
"But there is plenty of ice on board, sir," interposed the cook and steward, as he took the pitcher from the deck-hand. "I will put some in it, for it is nearly full of water; and that may be all there is on board."
There was an ice-chest built into the after part of the run, which had been filled from the ship's supply, and the provisions were stored around it.
"Pitts can't even make any coffee for us," continued Morris ruefully. "It takes water to make coffee."
"That is as true as truth itself," replied Louis cheerfully; "but we will not cry about it."
"I don't mean to cry about it; but it is a serious question, for the Guardian-Mother cannot overhaul the Maud in less than twelve or fifteen hours more, and we want something to eat and drink to-day."
"I think we can stand it one day," added Louis, laughing. "I went longer than that on a New Jersey sand-spit without a drop of drink of any kind."
"I can melt the ice and get water enough to cook with," interposed Pitts.
"But suppose the Guardian-Mother should fail to find us, as she did your party, Louis, when you made the run in this boat from Funchal to Tarifa?" suggested Morris.
"That is possible, but not probable," added Louis.