"Now, Don, hail her," said Scott to the engineer.
"Felucca, ahoy!" said he in Spanish.
The hail was returned in the same language, and the craft came up into the wind.
"Is there any water on that island?" asked Don at the dictation of the captain.
"Plenty of it," returned the skipper of the felucca.
"We are short of water, and want a cask or two," continued the engineer.
"I can sell you two casks," returned the speaker from the felucca.
"He is on the make," added Scott, when Don had translated the sentence; and he could not help laughing at the business turn of the Spaniard.
"Is it fresh?" asked the captain; and Don put the question to the skipper.
"He says he filled the casks from the well this morning," said Don, rendering the reply into English. "But he may be lying about it," suggested the engineer, smiling. "I have known some Spaniards to be guilty of falsehood; and I think you had better try the water before you buy it."